Artist: Prazak Quartet
Album: Haydn: The Last Three String Quartets
Genre: Classical
Release Date: 2021
Audio Format:: FLAC (tracks) 24 bit, 96 kHz
Duration: 59:55
Total Tracks: 10
Total Size: 1,02 GB

Tracklist:

01. Prazak Quartet – Haydn: String Quartet in G Major, Op. 77 No. 1: I. Allegro moderato (07:10)
02. Prazak Quartet – Haydn: String Quartet in G Major, Op. 77 No. 1: II. Adagio (05:56)
03. Prazak Quartet – Haydn: String Quartet in G Major, Op. 77 No. 1: III. Minuet. Presto – Trio (04:10)
04. Prazak Quartet – Haydn: String Quartet in G Major, Op. 77 No. 1: IV. Finale. Presto (05:42)
05. Prazak Quartet – Haydn: String Quartet in F Major, Op. 77 No. 2: I. Allegro moderato (07:39)
06. Prazak Quartet – Haydn: String Quartet in F Major, Op. 77 No. 2: II. Minuet. Presto – Trio (05:05)
07. Prazak Quartet – Haydn: String Quartet in F Major, Op. 77 No. 2: III. Andante (07:35)
08. Prazak Quartet – Haydn: String Quartet in F Major, Op. 77 No. 2: IV. Finale. Vivace assai (06:07)
09. Prazak Quartet – Haydn: String Quartet in D Minor, Op. 103: I. Andante grazioso (05:27)
10. Prazak Quartet – Haydn: String Quartet in D Minor, Op. 103: II. Minuet ma non troppo presto – Trio (05:00)

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In 1799, Haydn undertook the composition of a six quartet series dedicated to the Prince Lobkowitz. The two quartets Op.77 Nos.1 and 2 were the first outcome of this project. Kept busy by the composition of his Seasons and the Harmoniemesse, Haydn couldn’t complete the entire series before his passing, but he left two fragments of a third quartet, which make up the Op.103. These three last quartets, bold and full of wit, are the final goodbye of an old master. Underscoring the hand over between two generations of composers, this program pays homage to the Prazak Quartet, which continues the evolution it began in 2015, and opens a new chapter in its history.This fine album by the Praz’ak Quartet was recorded in Prague in 2020 and is dedicated to Pierre-Emile Barbier, the tireless talent scout with a passion for music who passed away in 2018. He founded the Praga label to support the publication of the many rich recordings made by Czech radio stations. This record is a fitting tribute to this extraordinary character, who would undoubtedly have loved this luminous interpretation of Haydn’s final three quartets, namely Opus 77 for the first two and Opus 103 for the last one, which was left unfinished by Haydn as his health deteriorated (1803).

Written after the publication of the six Quartets Op. 18 by his pupil Beethoven, these three final scores (the set was supposed to consist of six, as was customary at the time) offer one more illustration of Haydn’s melodic verve and impeccable architecture. They contain a mixture of rigour and freedom: a veritable “organisation of delirium” as musicologist Marc Vignal put it. Haydn only completed the first two movements of Opus 103, unwittingly concluding his extensive creative career with this tormented, chromatic minuet in D minor which was ‘as novel as a page by Schubert or Brahms’. Haydn kept on putting off the publication of this final quartet, convinced that he would one day be able to give it a final touch before profound aphasia prevented him from fulfilling his wish… – Francois Hudry