A new challenger has appeared for the Mosaique Quartet's fine period-instrument late Haydn (Astree Auvidis/Koch International). The Mosaique, with their close-recorded, vigorously physical playing, sharp of attack, tough of contrapuntal interplay, robust in the snap of gut on wood, were likely to persuade even the most intractable doubter of the value of their cause. The Festetics are likely to reinforce the caution of the unconverted.
The Festetics offer austere playing, with little of the glow and brilliance of the white and gold rococo music room of the Hungarian palace which they celebrate in their name. (It would have been nice, incidentally, to have had some information about both the Quartet and the palace.... ) Their alla breve march in the first movement of the Op. 77 No. 1 is more of a brisk, light dance, their No. 2 finale bordering on the breathless. The sometimes under-nourished tone may well be the result of poorer quality instruments; their brisker tempos and brusquer phrasing could be a consequence of cutting their interpretative coat according to their cloth. But this alone does not explain the hasty, sometimes slippery dotted notes, the sfzorzandos which bulge out of an otherwise matt unison in No. 1's Adagio, and the comparative lack of verve in the leaping second beat of its Menuet.
There is also a sense of less than perfect balance between the slim top lines and the booming bass. This becomes marked just before the recapitulation of No. 2's first movement. This polarity also slightly affects the Andante; though here it is the marginally faster tempo chosen by the Festetics which robs the music of the grave, humming resonance and soaring variations which the Mosaique drew out so beautifully.
When it comes to the unfinished Op. 103, the Festetics redeem themselves. Here, their slimline playing actually enables them to bring a simplicity to these two movements which the Mosaique miss. We lose the excitement of the latter's violent contrasts in the jagged arpeggiated figures of the Andante grazioso; but we also lose the intrusive heavy breathing, and we gain true grace.'