String Quartets · Quatuors À Cordes Nº 76 "Quinten" & Nº 79

Released in 1964 on the VOX label, this recording features the Hungarian String Quartet performing two of Joseph Haydn's late-career masterpieces: the String Quartet in D Minor, Op. 76, No. 2, known as the 'Quinten' or 'Fifths' quartet, and the String Quartet in D Major, Op. 76, No. 5. The release reflects the mid-century effort to make Haydn’s mature quartet cycle more accessible to the burgeoning home hi-fi market. By the early 1960s, VOX had established a reputation for documenting significant chamber repertoire, often pairing esteemed European ensembles with challenging classical works.

The Hungarian String Quartet, founded in 1935, brought a mid-European technical precision to these recordings that favored clarity and structural rigor. Their performance style, characterized by a lean tone and meticulous attention to Haydn's innovative harmonic shifts, was highly regarded by critics of the era for avoiding the overly romanticized interpretations that had previously dominated quartet playing. This particular disc stands as a testament to the transition from 78-RPM standards to the long-playing vinyl format, allowing for the seamless presentation of complete multi-movement works.