There is no such thing as a perfect world. Take these three versions of the Lark Quartet. All have attributes yet none is quite ideal. The Gabrieli (Chandos) take an inordinately slow speed for the opening movement. The Lindsay (ASV) linger too long over the Andante cantabile. The Hagen, who get their tempos right, are troubled by an extraneous noise intakes of breath, maybe in the slow movement, but as it happens the same affliction is an even greater drawback in the Lindsays live version. The Gabrieli are blessedly silent, but their CD offers only one other work and thus only 40 minutes music. So on balance, where the Lark is concerned, the Hagen performance is the one to go for. It is technically the most accomplished of the three and, though I don't find it quite as naturally recorded as the Gabrieli, the sound is spacious and pleasing in general. It certainly has none of the constricted and muddled sound of the Lindsay version.
And there is a great deal more to admire on the DG Compact Disc. The Hagen give a delightfully insouciant account of Op. 1 No. 1, pausing only to offer something deeper in common with Haydn in the Adagio. But the most compelling reason for acquiring this keenly balanced quartet's latest offering is the account of Op. 74 No. 3, one of the profoundest works in all Haydn's chamber-music output. The four players respond to the extraordinary originality of the writing in the first movement, to the depth of feeling expressed in bold harmonic twists in the Largo assai, and finally to the intense vigour of the finale. The confidence of the execution is as remarkable as the insights into Haydn's thought processes. Occasionally that extraneous sound is disturbing but not so much so as to mar my enjoyment and, I hope not yours.'