Haydn: String Quartets, Op. 33 Nos. 1-6 (complete)

The six String Quartets Op.33, though known as the 'Russian' in reference to their dedicatee the Grand Duke of Russia and future Tsar Paul I, in fact have much more in common with Austrian folk music and comic opera. Almost ten years after the extreme intensity of his Op.20, Haydn shows his wit and good humour in these works featuring scherzos, written 'in a new and special way'.

"the best quartet to have come out of Spain for many a year" The Strad

Arcana proudly announces the release of the last volume of the Haydn String Quartets performed by the Festetics Quartet.The long-awaited release is released on occasion of the 200th anniversary of Haydn's death.

Recorded by Michel Bernstein in Budapest in Spring 2006 this last volume represents the crowning achievement of a project conceived by the well-known founder of Arcana, who died a few months later. It is the first complete cycle on period instruments and features the complete 58 string quartets authenticated by the composer for the great Artaria edition: 19 CDs collected in 9 volumes in chronological order with liner notes written by the eminent Hungarian musicologist László Somfai. Founded in 1985, the Festetics Quartet was the first Hungarian ensemble to perform works of the classical quartet literature on period instruments. By their choice of name they decided to commemorate the outstanding figure of the Hungarian Enlightement and patron of the arts Count György Festetics. Their recording of Haydn's Op. 9. String Quartet series released in 1989 on Hungaroton met international recognition. Since then they have made more than 50 CDs and appear regularly on the stages of most European concert halls and festivals. Since 1996 they have toured the United States three times, where they gave concerts to great acclaim. The group has studied Haydn's manuscripts extensively and recorded a number for the Arcana label.

"This important period-instrument set of the quartets is now complete, against the odds, just in time for the 200th anniversary of the death of the most neglected of first-rank composers. Against the odds, the Festetics set is complete at last. For a decade, the Festetics have been releasing superbly springy recordings of Haydn's quartets on the Arcana label. But the death of the label's founder and producer Michel Bernstein a couple of years ago left the project one volume short: since then, I have hardly been able to look at my CD shelf, so maddening was it see the sequence of black spines: 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9. And now you'll have to excuse me while I head over to the CD player…" The Daily Telegraph, April 2009

A major recording project that will receive extensive review coverage in the major magazines.

Comprehensive booklet essay on the music, the interpretations, sources and research.

Haydn’s string quartets span his creative life – from the 1750s and the Opp. 1&2 sets through to his last unfinished quartet in D minor Op.103 of 1803. When the first quartets were written Bach had been dead only a few years and Handel had five years to live. When the last quartet was being worked on, Beethoven had finished his ground breaking Third Symphony. Arguably, Haydn’s greatest contribution to music is as the father of the string quartet rather than his oftgiven title as ‘Father of the Symphony’. His quartets developed from divertimenti and cassations, which were little more than light music for the entertainment of wealthy patrons and royalty, to some of the most profound and visionary music by any composer. In the same way as Bach’s ‘48’ have been described as a summation of all that had gone before, and the major influence upon all that would follow, Haydn’s quartets chart the development of the medium from ‘background’ music of high quality, to the major art form of the later works. They influenced Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Brahms, Schoenberg and beyond spanning the end of the Baroque, the Classical period in its entirety and the beginning of the Romantic age.

During his lifetime, the world had seen huge social and political upheavals – the French Revolution, the Napoleonic Wars which had been fought across Europe (reflected upon in ‘Mass in Time of War, and the Nelson Mass), and the foundation of the United States of America in 1776. Acutely aware of the politics of his age, Haydn’s development as a composer reflects these turbulent times.

Any cycle of the Haydn String Quartets is a major achievement. The Buchberger Quartet’s interpretations are based on scrupulous research into sources – both contemporaneous and modern, and interpretational style – dynamics, repeats and tempi. This complete recorded cycle is the culmination of a five-year project which has seen the Buchbergers perform all the quartets with illustrated talks and introductions to each work.