Chiaroscuro Quartet - Joseph Haydn: String Quartets, Op. 76 Nos. 4-6

The String Quartets, Op. 76 are among the most renowned of Joseph Haydn's sets of quartets, and carry the stamp of their maker: No other set of eighteenth-century string quartets is so diverse, or so unconcerned with the norms of the time. In the words of Haydn�s friend and contemporary Charles Burney �they are full of invention, fire, good taste and new effects� � a striking description considering that Haydn had reached the respectable age of 64 when he composed the set. On a previous disc, the Chiaroscuro Quartet has recorded the first half of Op. 76, including No. 3, the celebrated �Emperor� quartet. The release has won great acclaim, with the critic in Gramophone writing: �The Chiaroscuros' account of the remaining three Op 76 quartets can't come soon enough.� Well, here it is � a disc which like its predecessor spans a wealth of moods and atmospheres: from the magical sunrise of the opening of 76/4 to the manic minuet and boisterous finale of 76/6, a movement without a tune worth the name but utterly engrossing even so. The Chiaroscuro Quartet was formed in 2005 by the violinists Alina Ibragimova (Russia) and Pablo Hern�n Bened� (Spain), the Swedish violist Emilie H�rnlund and cellist Claire Thirion from France. Performing music of the Classical period on gut strings this highly international ensemble has a unique sound � described in The Observer as �a shock to the ears of the best kind�.