Haydn’s Op. 9 quartets, often lost among the jewels of the Opp. 33, 76, etc., have some worthwhile moments that have not been properly appreciated on disc–that is, until this fine release by the period-instrument Festetics Quartet. Although there are plenty of recordings of the more popular Haydn quartets, the only real competition for the Op. 9, aside from a fairly decent Kodaly Quartet set on Naxos, is by the Festetics itself. Its recording on Hungaroton, made more than 10 years ago, has some intonation problems and lacks interpretive depth. This time, though, the ensemble gets things very right. While the six quartets are inconsistent in musical quality, the Festetics plays each one as if it were the most important.
While these pieces were penned during Haydn’s “Sturm und Drang” period, they show little evidence of the fact. Rather, they are more of a laboratory for Haydn’s experiments in form and style. Along with the predominance of the first violin in most of the quartets, we also are treated to many lovely and striking passages, from the dark, moving Adagio Cantabile of the E-flat major quartet to the lightness of the attractive first movement of the A major. Leader István Kertész certainly seems to have solved any intonation problems, and the instruments sound much richer here than on the old Hungaroton recording. Not only are the blend and balance excellent, but Rezsö Pertorini’s dark French cello resonates wonderfully and the inner voices are always right where they need to be.
Interestingly, in these pieces Haydn broke the standard quartet mold and wrote menuets for all the second movements. In all his other sets, there is generally only one quartet structured this way. Even more interesting is the way the recording is laid out. Rather than performing them in the typical published order of 1-6, the quartets are programmed in the order in which Haydn himself listed them in his own thematic catalogue. Thus what usually is No. 4 comes first, and the rest are ordered: 1, 3, 2, 5, and 6. This arrangement works well, giving a more favorable organization to the order of keys and the different character of each quartet. If you’re new to Haydn quartets, perhaps it’s better to start with the higher numbered sets–but for all fans of this composer and of chamber music in general, you’ll find much to enjoy and many reasons to revisit this excellent program.
