CCMusic.com

This remarkable undertaking by the Festetics Quartet represents the first and only recording of Haydn's complete String Quartets on period instruments. Recorded in Budapest between 1993 and 2006, it represents the most challenging project accomplished by Michel Bernstein, the legendary founder of Arcana who died a few months after the recording of the very last volume. Out of print for many years, Arcana's reference edition features all 58 string quartets authenticated by the composer for the great Artaria edition, with 19 volumes presented in chronological order. This monumental achievement is enriched by a detailed essay signed by the Hungarian musicologist László Somfai, one of the most eminent Haydn scholars. The Festetics have extensively studied Haydn's original quartet manuscripts, and have relied heavily on László Somfai.