The Salomon Quartet's latest Haydn recording from Hyperion brings together the last contributions to the genre by that composer: the two Op. 77 quartets and the completed movements of Op. 103, all originally intended for a set of six that was left unfinished at the time of Haydn's death in 1809. The technical skill he displays in handling the quartet medium and the maturity of conception in these late works is hardly surprising: their experimental nature, however, is quite astonishing. While it is clear, as Peter Holman suggests in another of his excellent sleeve-notes, that many of these experimental, supposedly Beethovenian, elements are already present in some of Haydn's own works, contact with Beethoven's Op. 18 quartets equally patently stimulated his imagination and resulted in some particularly fine pieces. And they are very finely played by the Salomon Quartet.
Many will already be familiar with the sound of a period-instrument classical quartet from their previous recordings (this is the fourth in their Haydn series), and will surely have enjoyed the clarity these instruments and the less all-pervasive use of vibrato brings to the quartet texture. When matched with the precision of tuning and ensemble as well as the quality of the recording found here, the result is both refreshing and simply quite delightful. But there is more to it than that. Were you to listen with Haydn's score in front of you, it would immediately become apparent how closely the Salomon Quartet observe his every marking, whether of dynamic or phrasing. Slurs really count, sforzandos are marked within whatever the prevailing dynamic level and therefore are never needlessly agressive or bumped; at all times the articulation is immaculate, both in terms of phrase and structure. The latter is helped by the inclusion of all repeats, but it is really this adherence as closely as would seem humanly possible to what the composer actually indicated that lends an unusually strong sense of coherence to these performances. Such attention to detail in no way prevents the Salomon Quartet coming up with characterful interpretations: the down-to-earth quality of Op. 77 No. 1 is conveyed by lively, even athletic playing and a strong sense of fun enhanced by sheer poise of the ensemble, while the stranger vagaries of No. 2 are constantly brought into sharp relief through their sensitive approach. An impressive and very enjoyable recording.'