This new version of Haydn’s last quartets is notably well recorded, and the clear, vivid sound is matched by the Maggini Quartet’s playing – bright and incisive, with impressively wide variations of tone and dynamics. In the G major Quartet I liked the verve and drama of the opening Allegro and the rhythmic swing of the minuet, whilst in the F major the wonderful Andante is beautifully played, at just the right tempo, so that the brilliant climax and the veiled coda fall into place quite naturally. In some of the other movements I felt the performance didn’t quite reach the heart of the music. The Franz Schubert Quartet recording is rather over-resonant, their playing softer-edged, but in their hands the Adagio of Op. 77 No. 1 loses none of its majesty, yet, at a slightly faster tempo, the more gracious elements are shaped more persuasively. And in the finale of the same quartet, though the Maggini play with great understanding, they can’t match the detailed approach, on original instruments, of the Quatuor Mosaiques, whose care over phrasing really projects the music’s witty eventfulness. They’re the only group of the three, too, to play the difficult unison passages absolutely in tune. In the last movement of Op. 77 No. 2 the Maggini’s tempo is, I think, just too comfortable – both the other groups show what joyful excitement can be created by pushing the speed that little bit further.
The Maggini Quartet certainly give some real insights into this great music, and their playing is spirited and polished, but I’d opt for the Mosaiques recording. Even when I think they’re wrong, as in the slow Andante of Op. 77 No. 2, I’m won over by the sheer beauty of tone and phrasing.'