Billed as The Lindsays’ final recording, this Haydn disc completes their traversal of all the composer’s quartets from the Op 20 set of 1772 onwards, and does it in fine style. The two Op 77 quartets are among Haydn’s greatest works and The Lindsays produce an unflagging energy to match their inventive vigour. They always seem to hit just the right tempo and so give every movement a persuasive character. In Op 77 No 1, we immediately appreciate the spry march rhythms of the first movement, the majesty of the Adagio, and the presto Minuet’s whirling motion, with a particularly fine account of the wild trio section.

One aspect of Haydn’s mature style is perhaps not fully realised – the touching, singing quality of the melodies. In the second subject section of Op 77 No 2’s first movement, The Lindsays achieve a beautiful sotto voce sound but the expressiveness of the melodic line is underplayed. It’s the same with the pianissimo trio in the following minuet. In passages such as these the Quatuor Mosaïques (Astrée – sadly nla) produce an unforgettably profound, moving effect. I also wonder whether The Lindsays are not led by Haydn’s characteristic forzato markings to make the music sound too strenuous and sharply accented – very often, it seems to me, fz just indicates a prominent, expressive note.

But if these aren’t ideal performances, they’re certainly ones I wouldn’t want to be without (the delightful, compact Op 42 and the incomplete Op 103 just as much as Op 77), on account of their clear identification with the music and for the sheer verve of the performance.

Many years ago I made the acquaintance of Brahms’s B flat First Sextet at an amateur read-through. Amazed at the Billed as The Lindsays’ final recording, this Haydn disc completes their traversal of all the composer’s quartets from the Op 20 set of 1772 onwards, and does it in fine style. The two Op 77 quartets are among Haydn’s greatest works and The Lindsays produce an unflagging energy to match their inventive vigour. They always seem to hit just the right tempo and so give every movement a persuasive character. In Op 77 No 1, we immediately appreciate the spry march rhythms of the first movement, the majesty of the Adagio, and the presto Minuet’s whirling motion, with a particularly fine account of the wild trio section.

One aspect of Haydn’s mature style is perhaps not fully realised – the touching, singing quality of the melodies. In the second subject section of Op 77 No 2’s first movement, The Lindsays achieve a beautiful sotto voce sound but the expressiveness of the melodic line is underplayed. It’s the same with the pianissimo trio in the following minuet. In passages such as these the Quatuor Mosaïques (Astrée – sadly nla) produce an unforgettably profound, moving effect. I also wonder whether The Lindsays are not led by Haydn’s characteristic forzato markings to make the music sound too strenuous and sharply accented – very often, it seems to me, fz just indicates a prominent, expressive note.

But if these aren’t ideal performances, they’re certainly ones I wouldn’t want to be without (the delightful, compact Op 42 and the incomplete Op 103 just as much as Op 77), on account of their clear identification with the music and for the sheer verve of the performance.

Many years ago I made the acquaintance of Brahms’s B flat First Sextet at an amateur read-through. Amazed at the richness and density of the textures, I was aware, however, that this engendered a daunting competitive spirit, as each player strove to make his or her voice heard. In this performance we notice a similar revelling in the work’s glorious fullness, but of course The Lindsays and their colleagues are able to put heart and soul into the music while keeping a careful control of the overall balance.

Nevertheless, the ensemble’s tone, intensified by copious vibrato, can become wearing in extended forte passages such as the earlier part of the Andante (the players at the 1860 first performance, led by Joachim, would certainly have produced a much straighter sound). With this one qualification, however, the wholehearted character of the playing is a big advantage; the Scherzo has a splendidly earthy quality, its trio wildly energetic. And in the G major Second Sextet the richness of the full, expressive music is balanced by many passages of imaginatively delicate scoring, where The Lindsays, Williams and Watkins delight us with a range of the most beautiful, transparent sonorities. The performances of both sextets have a compelling sense of direction – in the Second’s magnificent first movement, we can feel what a giant the young Brahms had become.