I've enjoyed recordings of Haydn's quartets by Simon Standage and his Salomon Quartet, so I was pretty sure that this disc of string quartets by Haydn's friend Adalbert Gyrowetz would be enjoyable as well. Gyrowetz writes very much in the middle-Classical style, with the first violin doing most of the work, a configuration that particularly suits this group. Uniformity of ensemble is the rule of the day here, and by that I mean much more than just playing the notes together. Lengths of bow strokes and vibratos always match, which is especially important with period strings.

Most of the time, Standage and his group give the music full expressive attention and energy; however, there are moments when the energy falls away, almost as if the group loses interest for a few bars. For example, the musicians correctly emphasize the Bohemian folk qualities Gyrowetz interpolates into the Menuet, but they only stress the big moments and gloss over smaller details. They're recorded just a bit on the quiet side, with the overall sound not as full as it might be. But the voices of the strings still seem natural, without any tinniness. The players obviously rehearsed the larger gestures, and the overall scope of each work clearly emerges; I just wish more time had been spent with the finer details.

--David Preiser