Label: NAXOS Catalog: 8550788 Format: CD Kodàly QuartetF.J. Haydn: String Quartets op.33 'Russian' No.1, No.2 'the Joke', No.5 'How Do You Do?' Wholenote Discoveries - October 2009
I tend to turn to the Naxos label when I find a glaring hole in my collection. For instance although I have several dozen Haydn string quartets, when I saw mention of one called “The Joke” (Op.33, No.2) and wanted to give it a listen, I found I did not have a recording. As I suspected it was easy to track it down. Haydn’s “Russian” Quartets are available in fine performances by the Kodàly Quartet on two Naxos CDs and once again I was able to fill in a gap in my collection without breaking the bank. It is not just the affordable prices and good to very good performances that make the Naxos line attractive to me, but even more important is the fact that their ever-expanding and ever-more adventurous catalogue is already complete when it comes to the standard repertoire and that everything stays in the catalogue and remains readily available. It is no wonder that Naxos has become the most successful purveyor of classical music of our time. David Olds |