The Mosaiques Quartet, who use period instruments, are new to me, though the cellist, Christophe Coin, has made several appearances in London and on record with the Academy of Ancient Music. They are a fine group, with a clean, true sound (there is little vibrato and where used it is tellingly placed) and perceptive musicianship. There is no want of expressive warmth, no austerity. The Quartet Op. 77 No. 1 is begun duly gracefully, but sturdily too, and its running triplets have plenty of vigour and rhythmic thrust. There is a crisp scherzo, not as hectically rapid as you will sometimes hear but articulated with clarity and nicely shaped, and a finale full of vitality.
The opening of No. 2 is very beautifully done, the first violin gently easing into that second, piano phrase, as if they are feeling their way into the music. The andante here is taken decidedly on the leisurely side; they give themselves ample room for manoeuvre, and the almost ruminative approach, with the first violin's filigree writing very delicately done, is I am sure what Haydn wanted. Most performances of this movement and perhaps of the more dramatic adagio of No. 1 too, treat the music in a more overtly emotionai way, but these performances are in the end as moving as any I can remember. The players have a real grasp of the structure of the music and they know how to illuminate the key moments, with a little extra deliberation, a little extra weight of tone. Indeed, one should not be misled by the fact that the players use period instruments into thinking that they don't use a full expressive palette
The disc is completed, unlike its Hungaroton/Conifer rival cited above (a not specially appealing performanoc, on modern instruments) with the two movements that were to have been the middle part of Haydn's next quartet had his energy held up; and these, too, are appealingly done. A good, clear recording: warmly recommended.'