Like Op. 9, the Op. 17 quartets receive little attention not because there’s anything wrong with them, but because they were eclipsed by Haydn’s later masterpieces in the genre, from Op. 20 on. Still, they contain magnificent music and were enormously popular in their day. Certainly this is the finest recording of them yet to appear.
The Auryn Quartet captures that special conversational quality, the give-and-take of the musical discourse produced by the interplay of the various motives, as have few other groups. This is particularly evident in the opening movements, four of which are marked “moderato” and must sound purposeful without being rushed. Even the theme and variations at the start of the E-flat major quartet (No. 3) has plenty of what you might call “internal energy”, leading the ear onward.
The slow movements in this set are very special: all of them are quite slow–adagio or (in No. 6) largo–and they embody Haydn’s newfound brand of emotional intensity through stylized vocal writing. This is particularly true of the Adagio of the G major quartet (No. 5), a miniature operatic scena. Happily, the Auryn players understand the need to sing, a requirement underscored by Haydn’s use of his favorite expressive designation: cantabile.
The group’s timbre throughout is unfailingly warm and appropriate to the emotional context, their use of vibrato tasteful but happily never stingy. Haydn notates vibrato in these pieces (mostly in connection with tenuto, sforzando, and portato accents), and quite often. Moreover the original manuscript of this opus has survived and his intentions are clear in this regard–an inexpensive Urtext study score is available from Henle, if you’re interested–so there is no excuse for parsimony in the vibrato department, and no support for any theory of its being minimally applied because it was “an ornament” (whatever that silly theory suggests). Magnificent sonics provide the final, enticing touch on what is unquestionably a major achievement in the Haydn quartet discography.
