Haydn's Haus

[schnittkease]

I dare you to find one!! haha!

I suppose I'll make it a double-dare. 

[Gurn Blanston]

I have been ripping the Haydn set of complete folksongs (see picture below) over the past few days. And along the way, I have been sampling the discs. What joy these bring. First, the singing is better than I was expecting. Jamie MacDougal and Lorna Anderson are quite good. The music is beautifully performed by the Haydn Trio Eisenstadt. Considering the enormous number of songs, the consistently high level of performance puts these forward in their best light. So far, I've enjoyed the duets (with accompaniment) the most. I bought this for about $10 at jpc (no longer available) and it is probably the highlight of my 2018 purchases.
This far, far, far exceeded my expectations. And with 18 discs to enjoy, I have a lot of exploring ahead of me!



I cross-posted this from the listening thread. This set is the prime example of a post that caught my eye here. I thought about it at the time, but so many songs and so much money, is it worth it? So I wishlisted it. I considered it when it came up at Berkshire. I thought that $40 was just too much for something I might never listen to or never like. And it percolated for years until I finally got it. I love songs/lieder, so this really will be a joy to explore. As I wrote, this won't be fore everyone, but it's definitely for me. Incidentally, the booklet on the cd-rom is over 350 pages! It looks pretty interesting as well.

Thanks Gurn for posting about this all those years ago. You never know the financial ruin (haha!) a post can bring. I mean, of course, you never know how one post can ultimately bring new music to our ears. And that's one of the things this forum is all about.

Yes, it really is Brilliant! ( ). I have the singers on other disks of Scottish songs (not all by Haydn, but by Burns), apparently Scottish songs is what they do. And you can tell it too. When I started with these I didn't really have high hopes, since I came to them through Beethoven's, which are a completely different thing. Now I am really quite a fan. I even keep a copy of the Everyman's Library 'Burns' next to me reading chair!

[Karl Henning]

I dare you to find one!! haha!

I suppose I'll make it a double-dare. 

I suppose I'll make it a double-dare. 

(* chortle *)

[JBS]

Not Karl. But I will take up the challenge.

Kodaly Quartet in Op 76 which struck me as a bit too bland and boring.

Mind you, the challenge is to find a performance one does not like. The challenge therefore is not to find one that is actually bad.
And I have at least one other CD from their series that I liked more...Opp. 74 IIRC.

[schnittkease]

A thread dedicated to "bad Haydn SQ recordings"... now that's an idea.

[Daverz]

The Lindsays, perhaps?

[Jo498]

I am pretty sure that there are mediocre recordings of this music. I have not heard any of the older Aeolian Q recordings but hardly ever read any positive comments on them.
I have heard one or two of the Lindsays (a live recording, they had a bunch of live disc in addition to their others) and several of the Kodaly. The Lindsays are pretty wild and sloppy but I keep the disc both for the wildness and for sentimental reasons. The Kodaly are decent but tend sometimes to the all to "neutral" and rather boring side. I kept the discs with the problematic op.3 and the quartet versions of divertimenti a 6 that were later eliminated from opp. 1 and 2. I got rid of a disc with half of op.17 for space reasons (although this was not at all bad) and I rather disliked their op.20,4-6 which was very tame, not to say lame.

[Madiel]

Kodaly Quartet in Op 76 which struck me as a bit too bland and boring.

Well, you've just torpedoed what was essentially the beginning of me collecting my own classical music.

[Ghost of Baron Scarpia]

I am pretty sure that there are mediocre recordings of this music. I have not heard any of the older Aeolian Q recordings but hardly ever read any positive comments on them.

They are superb, in my view.

[Daverz]

Well, you've just torpedoed what was essentially the beginning of me collecting my own classical music.

The Kodaly are just fine.  They have a nice full sound.  Enjoy them if you have their recordings.
But they don't "do it" for me quite like the Mosaïques do.  Unfortunately, the Mosaïques didn't record everything.

The Buchberger's set is even better on a budget.  It's a really good set overall.  They use modern instruments but HIP style.  In fact, they sound more austere than the Festetics

[asin] B001V7SG8E[/asin]

And then there is the super-budget set with the combined Dekany and Fine Arts Quartets.  I only discount this set a bit because it is only available as MP3.   But I really like it.



https://www.amazon.com/Haydn-Complete-String-Quartets-VoxMegaBox/dp/B00YRDOGKQ

[Ghost of Baron Scarpia]

The Kodaly are just fine.  They have a nice full sound.  Enjoy them if you have their recordings.
But they don't "do it" for me quite like the Mosaïques do.  Unfortunately, the Mosaïques didn't record everything.

The Buchberger's set is even better on a budget.  It's a really good set overall.  They use modern instruments but HIP style.  In fact, they sound more austere than the Festetics

And then there is the super-budget set with the combined Dekany and Fine Arts Quartets.  I only discount this set a bit because it is only available as MP3.   But I really like it.

Or pray for re-release of the Festetics cycle (my favorite). If you do MP3 download it is very cheap.

[Madiel]

The Buchbergers were one of the groups I got in a blind listening test on the forum some years ago.

I did not like them, at all. I just found my notes from then and the conclusion was "towards the bottom" and I ended up placing them 11th out of 11 recordings. Obviously this was only on the basis of one movement, but I was not pleased.

The Festetics I rather liked, though no-one else in my group did. I placed them 2nd out of 11 recordings on one test, and 4th out of 11 on the other.

I note that the Kodaly scored badly in both tests, but I think this was one of the opuses which was not considered a good one for them in professional reviews either. It's just that their op.76 was usually one of the ones that was regarded well.

[George]

Or pray for re-release of the Festetics cycle (my favorite). If you do MP3 download it is very cheap.

A wonderful set!

[Daverz]

A wonderful set!

Presto also has it as FLAC.

https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/8047758--haydn-string-quartets

[JBS]

Well, you've just torpedoed what was essentially the beginning of me collecting my own classical music.

I just checked the price on the Kodaly set, and would advise against it on that ground. But mind you I did like another CD in that series.

I have the Festetics set, and would say that's the best one to get if you can find a reasonable price. I have the Aeolian set and never found anything bad with it.  The only problem with Quatour Mosaiques is that it is incomplete.

I have the Buchberger Op 54...and remember absolutely nothing about it.

As for the Lindsays I do not have any studio recordings, but I do have this
[asin]B000M2E87W[/asin]
I would guess this is the set of live recordings Jo referred to. I like it very much.

[George]

Presto also has it as FLAC.

https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/8047758--haydn-string-quartets

Luckily I was able to find a good used copy a few years back

[JBS]

Presto also has it as FLAC.

https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/8047758--haydn-string-quartets

As does AmazonUS. Is Amazon still boycotting Australia?
https://www.amazon.com/Haydn-Complete-String-Quartets-Instruments/dp/B073K1KC5V/

The Presto link seems to be not working just now, meaning I have no idea if Presto or Amazon have the better price.

[Daverz]

As does AmazonUS. Is Amazon still boycotting Australia, btw?

Amazon has FLAC files?

[JBS]

Amazon has FLAC files?

MP3....as a person who does not download,  FLAC vs MP3 is a case of Big Endism vs Little Endism.  The headphones or speakers are more important in determining SQ.

[Daverz]

MP3....as a person who does not download,  FLAC vs MP3 is a case of Big Endism vs Little Endism.  The headphones or speakers are more important in determining SQ.

Agreed.  But personally, I avoid lossy formats like the plague, except in the case where nothing else is available and the performances are non-pareil, as is the case with that Vox Box of all the quartets (I do have some of the Lps).