Haydn: String Quartet, Op. 54 No. 3 in E major

This set is DVD Audio-only and WILL NOT play on an ordinary CD player.

This volume of “Auryn’s Haydn” is now available on DVD Audio, the fifth in this format. The musicians and their producer have just received the Annual German Recording Critics’ Prize.

Pecuniary difficulties seem to have been at the root of the six quartets which Haydn began composing in the early summer of 1788. Normally meticulous and thoughtful in his work, Haydn here showed himself singulary capable of swift, instinctive writing. He went straight to the heart of the problem, concentrating his efforts and distilling music from sudden flashes of inspiration.

The Sacconi Quartet's first release on their own label, voted RECORDING OF THE MONTH by MusicWeb International.

This CD features Haydn's masterful opus 54 quartets complete. Written for virtuoso violinist and friend of Haydn's Johann Tost, these quartets feature florid and virtuosic writing for all four parts – truly a conversation between four musical voices.

“The Sacconis seem to perfectly understand every nuance, find exactly the right tempo for each movement . . . they play with a verve and style which is perfect for this composer.” MusicWeb International.

This outstanding performance from the young Sacconi Quartet captures Haydn at his best, from the breezy, energetic opening of quartet op54/1, the high spirits of the first movement of op54/2, the tragic and sparse second movement, and the passionate and free op54/3. The sumptuous artwork is based on an original painting by Neil Canning, providing the first in a series of cover images for the Sacconi's recordings.

This CD contains three complete quartets (op54/1, op54/2, op54/3) by the “Father of the string quartet”, Haydn, with a total playing time of 63mins.

For this anniversary year of Haydn, the Auryn Quartet has been preparing a complete cycle of the Haydn Quartets which will be presented by WDR Cologne in a total of 18 concerts.

The tenth of eleven volumes; the last set, of Op.76 is due to be released in May

Latest critical research into the manuscripts has been incorporated within the parts used

The Buchberger Quartet has attracted considerable critical attention and acclaim for their Haydn recordings; Haydn’s music has been central to the quartet’s repertoire since its establishment by Hubert Buchberger over 20 years ago.

These recordings are the culmination of years of practical study and reflection

This painstaking complete cycle of Haydn’s quartets nears its climax with some of the most brilliant, quirky and virtuosic examples of the genre. It may have been the extraordinary success of the symphonies he wrote for the brilliant orchestra of the Loge Olympique that prompted Haydn to conceive hisnew quartets for the Germanborn Parisian publisher Jean-Georges Sieber. Haydn knew well the Parisian predilection for soloistic display, evinced in symphonic music by the great popularity in France of the ‘symphonie concertante’ and in chamber music by the genre ‘quatuor brillant’. He was able to develop his new quartets along the same lines without any sacrifice of complexity or depth. But virtuosity is never remotely an end in itself. Indeed, in the C major Quartet, Op.54 No.2, especially, it becomes a key element in music of astonishing force and rhetorical boldness: in the spacious opening movement, with its wide tonal reach, and almost orchestral depth of sonority; and in the C minor Adagio, where the first violin weaves wild, gypsy-style fantasies above the brooding chorale-like theme in the lower voices.

Taken together, both sets exhibit qualities of experimentation, gratifying instrumental virtuosity and dramatic expressiveness, especially in the slow movements, that make them a constant source of delight and satisfaction.