A special listening experience., July 9, 2000

The Kodaly Quartet's recordings give lie to the idea that there has to be anything second rate about budget priced recordings. When Naxos signed up this Hungarian group, it seems to have done very well for itself, for the performers, and certainly for us listeners. This disc was one of the first by the Kodaly Quartet that I bought, and I now have probably over a dozen of their recordings including more of their Haydn quartet cycle. In my opinion, they consistently and easily hold their own with any "name" group. None of their performances has disappointed. And Naxos's digital recordings also are as good as any.

Often as I skim over the available recordings of a particular piece I am looking for, I ignore the super-budget price recordings, suspecting that the sound quality will be dreadful, or that it will be some obscure live recording punctuated by coughing fits among the audience all through the slow movements. Don't let the price fool you here. To begin with, all six quartets (4-6 are available on another CD for the same remarkable price) are absolute stunners--full of grace, lightness and invention. No question of Haydn being in the company of Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert as far as the string quartet genre is concerned. And the Kodaly Quartet is equal to the task. They play with unabashed joy and vigor, yet not without restraint where appropriate. A nicely balanced sound too. Haydn is coming to mean more and more to me as a composer, and I have over a dozen of his symphonies and concerti; yet the sheer amount of piano sonatas, piano trios and string quartets is...

Until recently, the Kodaly Quartet has not been very well known outside its native Hungary, although they have won several awards, performed at numerous concerts throughout eastern Europe, and recorded for the Naxos label for several years. One of this chamber music ensemble's most notable achievements for Naxos is a complete cycle of string quartets composed by Joseph Haydn. This CD contains the first three of Haydn's "Erdody" quartets, Op. 76. (They were named for Count Erdody, to whom Haydn dedicated them.) Many music critics consider the "Erdody" quartets to be the finest of the 83 Haydn composed during his long life. The Kodaly Quartet performs them with tremendous enthusiasm, vitality, and an obvious enjoyment of the music. Fast movements are lightly sprung, slow movements are played with just the right touch of gravity, and "menuettos" rollick merrily along. Especially enjoyable for its hauntingly beautiful melody is the second...