On this new recording from MDG, the Leipzig String Quartet celebrates Haydn's musical ideas with wit and charm. Brilliant in the expansive solo passages, but above all, of the highest standard in chamber music, the three quartets op. 71 revive the excitement of Vienna and London of the 1790s. The quartets op. 71, which are still associated with the aristocratic name today, are evidence of Haydn's pronounced business acumen after his period of service with Prince Esterhazy. But even more fascinating to us today is the sovereign mastery of a composer at the height of his creative powers. Today, Haydn is known for skilfully exploiting the acoustic conditions of his performance venues when composing. The powerful chords at the beginning of Quartet No. 1, for example, seem to literally call the audience to silence - with up to 900 people in the Hanover Square Rooms, surely not without reason... The reverberation of the concert hall, already praised by contemporaries, comes into its own again and again through surprising pauses.
