Quatuor Arod’s Haydn Op. 76 is played on modern instruments but with a firmly classical mindset: lighter bow work, judicious vibrato, and a generally rounded tone—less pronounced than the Doric Quartet’s more taut, high-contrast approach. Part of that profile comes from a technical choice noted in the booklet: the players use modern instruments, but they’ve adopted late-18th-century-style bows, modelled on a Tourte design from around the 1770s, aiming for greater flexibility, lightness, and clarity of attack.
The opening G-major quartet comes across as simply lovely, with a natural flow and a sense of ease that suits Haydn’s wit. Even within this relatively traditional frame, the group still makes room for playfulness; listen, for instance, to how first violinist Jordan Victoria decorates the line in the first movement of No. 1 (track 1, around 2′;’00”).
Not everything here is equally vivid: the “Fifths” Quartet feels more intimate than dramatic, and the dynamic contrasts could be pushed further. Still, the “Emperor” and the “Sunrise” quartets are handled with real care and stylistic understanding. Overall, it’s a very enjoyable traversal of works that rarely run out of fresh angles.
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Album Details |
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|---|---|
| Album name | Haydn – String Quartets Op. 76 |
| Label | Erato / Warner Classics |
| Catalogue No. | 2173287521 |
| Artists | Quatuor Arod |
