My immediate reaction, on noticing that Hungaroton had decided to reissue the Tatrai Quartet's 1964-5 mono recording of Haydn's six Op. 76 Quartets (commissioned by Count Joseph Erdody) was, for heaven's sake, why not re-record them so as to benefit from present-day engineering advances? Not until I had played them did I know the answer. I found the performances breathtaking—for each player's individual sensitivity and brilliance, for their intimately interwoven ensemble and, most of all, for their revelatory characterization. Even the recording itself is remarkable for its age. My greater enjoyment in this old set than in the new one of course also has something to do with Haydn himself. When writing these six works in his mid-sixties (his last essays in the quartet genre but for two) he was at the very peak of his powers. I don't think I've ever before had occasion to listen to the six straight off, and I was totally bowled over as much by their unfailingly unpredictable ingenuity of craftsmanship as by their startling range and variety of experience—extending from Croation merrymaking on the village green to visionary regions scarcely explored more searching and personally by Beethoven. It would be difficult indeed for any team to remain unstirred by such music.
Even so, I can't escape the suspicion that the Tatrai Quartet have grown a little older in their playing since 1964-5. The label indicates that in those distant days they had Mihaly Szucs as second fiddle, whereas now it is Istvan Varkonyi. Otherwise the make-up remains the same. But as a younger group I thought their musical response more immediate. This finds outlet in readiness to risk a faster tempo for livelier movements (always with a touch of virtuoso brilliance when required) as well as greater intensity in slow movements—not least as exemplified in the unforgettable revelations of the last three. Pungency of accentuation and clarity of articulation also contribute to their greater youthful vividness of characterization, as does, even more, their much wider range of dynamics (with some real pianissimo) and colour—so arrestingly demonstrated in the dramatic opening movement of the D minor work. Though the sound quality may not compare with the best on offer today, I liked its clarity: microphones seem less close than on the team's later CDs, permitting everything to emerge in better perspective. But in the final resort it's Haydn's genius that overwhelms you. And that's why I'm sure no one need feel compelled to wait for a more technically up-to-date recording of these works on Compact Disc.
Oddly enough, I found the actual sound of the Tatrai's new recording of the six Op. 64 Quartets much more pleasing heard through headphones than from my normal speakers; a certain vinegarishness in the violin tone (particularly the often exposed leader) was alleviated by the warmer response of the headphones. The playing here is always self-effacingly wholesome and true, as would be expected from a team so seasoned and mellow, and just as Haydn's own imagination seems progressively to take wing in the course of the six works, so does the players' own commitment. But without a shadow of doubt it would be the Op. 76 discs that I would take with me to my desert island.'