Haydn Quartett

“By far the most compelling interpretation of Mozart’s string quartets comes from Salzburg: there is scarcely any other group that is capable of covering the vast stylistic range of these works as convincingly and as vitally as the Hagen Quartett. The result is a recording that should still be valid in thirty years’ time.” (Neue Zürcher Zeitung)

For sheer finesse the Hagen is up there with its fellow Austrian ensemble the Alban Berg Quartet. The players' collective sonority - aptly slimmed down for Mozart - is elegantly honed, their ensemble and internal balance impeccable. No subtlety of Mozart's part-writing escapes them. The first two quartets of the Haydn set come off specially well.

There were two Alban Berg Quartetts: the ABQ that recorded for Teldec in the '70s and the one that recorded for EMI in the '80s, '90s, and '00s. The first ABQ and the second ABQ shared two members first violinist Günter Pichler and cellist Valentin Erben and a common approach to chamber music more intellectual than emotional, more restrained than explosive, and more deep-down satisfying than superficially thrilling.

Dissonance Quartet – the name already contains the thrill of transgression. But a dissonance, in which the parts momentarily diverge from triadic harmony, is the necessary condition to achieve an aesthetic of four-part conflict, such as was sought after in the genre of classical string quartet. Mozart’s work in C Major with the “dissonance” epithet is the highlight of a group of six quartets in which he responded to the music of his colleague Joseph Haydn and the latter’s concept of discursive thematic work in a four-part texture.

This recording offers us a close look into Michael Haydn's musical activities for the church, the court and its surroundings. The Missa is perfectly in accord with the then current ideals for reform in the Catholic Church: functional, short, simple, modest and linked to the Gregorian tradition. It is amazing how Haydn was able to compose such varied, lively and attractive music within these strict guidelines.