Haydn: The String Quartets (7CD)

“One has never heard them surpassed, and rarely equalled,” wrote The Times of Belgium’s Pro Arte Quartet in 1925. The ensemble’s pioneering project to record the complete Haydn quartets was interrupted by World War II, but their interpretations of the composer’s music were destined for immortality. As Gramophone wrote in 1936: “The Pro Arte people have that awareness which is one of the prerogatives of the true artist ... The variety of expression is wonderful and the recording as perfect as one could wish.” These recordings have now been remastered in 24BIT-96kHz digital sound.