Six String Quintet K.174, K.516, K.406/516b/. K.593, K.614

This 1970 box set released by the Hungarian label Qualiton features the Tátrai Quartet—joined by violist György Konrád—performing the complete cycle of Mozart’s string quintets. The recordings were captured during the height of the Tátrai Quartet’s international prominence, a period defined by their rigorous, austere approach to the classical canon and their commitment to the precise, intellectual traditions of the Hungarian string school.

The production sought to offer a definitive, localized interpretation of these late-18th-century masterpieces, which represent some of the most complex chamber music in the repertoire. The Tátrai ensemble was widely praised by critics of the era for their clarity of texture and lack of sentimental affectation, aligning with a mid-century trend of returning to disciplined, structural purity in the performance of Mozart’s string writing.