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Following the of the first three quartets of theOp. 33 set in May 2023 [BIS-2588], a recording that washailed by critics for it's 'extraordinarily faithful readingthat goes straight to the heart of the works' (Diapason)and won numerous awards (including a Diapason d'or,Choc from Classica and Supersonic from Pizzicato), theChiaroscuro Quartet presents the last three quartets inthis set. Having already recorded Op. 20 and Op. 76, thisensemble, whose unique sound has been described as 'ashock to the ears of the best kind' (The Observer) herecontinues it's historically informed and illuminatingjourney through Joseph Haydn's string quartets, a long-term project that started in 2020.Dubbed the 'Russian Quartets' and dedicated to theRussian Grand Duke Paul, the future Tsar Paul I, theseworks show Haydn at his most eccentric and non-conformist. For this set, Haydn felt the need to writemusic more in keeping with the public's lighter, more'popular', less 'scholarly' tastes, with a livelier sense ofrhythm. With their stylistic advance over the precedingquartets, it can be said that in real terms they mark thebirth of the classical quartet genre. Mozart drewinspiration from them for his own quartets 'dedicated toHaydn'.
