Given their status, innovation, artistry, and sheer brilliance, all string quartets should have
Haydn's string quartets at the core of their repertoire. And at the start of that core should be his Opus 20 set of six quartets. More than the sets that preceded it, Opus 20 is
Haydn's first truly mature set of masterpieces in the genre. Here, the themes, harmonies, and forms are all aspects of a single unified structure, and here, the independence of each instrument is matched only by unanimity of their ensemble. Plus, each work in the set has its own wholly distinctive identity. Three quartets end in fugues, two are in minor keys, and each contains movements of surpassing loveliness and unique individuality like the E flat major's Affettuoso e sostenuto, the D major's Menuet alla Zingarese, and the C major's Capriccio-adagio.
These 2006 performances by the German
Buchberger Quartet are, if not quite as good as the best, still very, very good. Each player is a master of his/her instrument and each is a master of listening to the other players -- the heart of the art of string quartet playing. The group's tempos are well chosen, the balances well judged, and the interpretations well considered, but never dry. The tone is warm, the attack direct, and the rhythms buoyant. Though some might miss the intellectual clarity of the
Juilliard Quartet's recordings or the energy of the Salomon Quartet's recordings, anyone who hears the
Buchberger's recordings will be pleased and gratified -- whether he/she knows the works or not. Recorded in the Evangelische Bürgkirche of Nieder-Rosbach, Germany, this 2007 Brilliant release boasts cool, clear, and very immediate sound.