The
Rosamunde Quartet of Munich here offers three familiar quartets from the triumphant late career of Haydn, one of the few great creative artists who lived to receive the acclaim his work deserved. The present disc is a reissue of a 1994 release that, even if it broke no new ground, remains a sterling example of the sheer competence that continues to issue forth from German conservatories in core repertory. The various greatest hits from Haydn's quartet output included in these three pieces will delight the newcomer in clean, exciting interpretations, as will the budget price of the disc; it's a reasonable choice for a first Haydn quartet recording. The set of variations making up the second movement of the String Quartet in C major, Op. 76/3, "Emperor", with its tune better known as "Glorious things of Thee are spoken," or, more ominously, "Deutschland, Deutschland über alles," is smoothly rendered, neither schmaltzed up nor tossed off, and the first violin of Andreas Reiner in the soaring second subject of the first movement of the String Quartet in D major, Op. 64/5, which led someone to bestow the "Lark" nickname on the quartet as a whole, is genuinely charming. If the quartet does not dig deep -- does not really come to grips with the vigor of Haydn's rhythms, does not bring much of a smile to the hearer's lips in any of the minuets -- well, that's the kind of thing devotees seek out in really top-notch recordings, and this one, especially with clear, unobtrusive sound, is enough to put the new listener on the right path.