overviewfb55cd020f0643f08418183279e63a5fHAYDN String Quartet in F minor, Op. 76, No.2, Hob.III:76, "Fifths"
HAYDN String Quartet in E flat major, Op. 33, No.2, Hob.III:38, "Joke"
Recorded in Paris, November & 21 December 1948.
Total duration: 33:29
Quatuor Pascal
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XR-remastered for finest sound quality
These recordings were amongst a set
selected from the extensive collection of Brussels-based collector
Jean-François Lambert as excellent examples of neglected European
recordings of the early LP era which will appear in the coming weeks and
months at Pristine. It's hard to conceive of a more delightful way to
begin the series than with the Pascal Quartet's sublime readings of
these two Haydn favourites.
The appearance of one of these two
quartets, the D minor, Op. 76, No. 2, on a set of HMV 78s issued in
1949, gave the first clue as to the recording date of that particular
recording, and further digging revealed it to have been taped in Paris
in November 1948. The second quartet here, the 'Joke' Quartet, is much
more elusive, and I've struggled to find mention of it beyond the MMS
disc from which these transfers were drawn.
Yet I strongly suspect that it was drawn
from the same recording sessions, as there is a continuity not only of
both sound quality and acoustic, but also of occasional distant traffic
rumble (formerly buried in the grooves) which is evident in both
recordings.
Whether or not this is the case (and the
second recording was most certainly made either at the end of the 1940s
or start of the 1950s) it seems we have no right to expect the kind of
sound quality revealed by the XR remastering of this disc, which is
nothing short of superb throughout, and conveys perfectly the finest
nuances in these literally delightful performances. It is therefore all
the more remarkable that the 1952 issue of The Record Guide commented sniffily about those HMV 78s: "although it is well played, the string tone is very unpleasant. The issue is said to have been dubbed from a tape recording."
Well take a listen to our sample here, in
which Ambient Stereo processing brings out the fine acoustic captured in
this recording, and try to remind yourself at regular intervals that
it's was made 61 years ago, and not in the 21st century...
Andrew Rose
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HAYDN String Quartet in F minor, Op. 76, No.2, Hob.III:76, "Fifths"
HAYDN String Quartet in E flat major, Op. 33, No.2, Hob.III:38, "Joke"
Recorded in Paris, November & 21 December 1948.
Note that some distant traffic noise is faintly audible at times on this recording.
Transferred from Musical Masterpiece Society 10" LP, MMS-47
Source material from the collection of Jean-François Lambert
Transfer and XR remastering by Andrew Rose at Pristine Audio, March 2009
Total duration: 33:29
Quatour Pascal:
Jacques Dumont, violin
Maurice Crut, violin
Léon Pascal, viola
Robert Salles, cello
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