‘These refined performances profile the music’s conversational sophistication and its sheer fluency, underscoring Haydn's gift for civility and wit’ (Financial Times)

‘The LHQ are gradually working their way through the mature Haydn quartets, and proving ideal companions in this eventful music … they revel in Haydn's ever-inventive scherzos and zany prestos, with dazzling playing from their leader, Catherine Manson, in the 'Joke' and 'Bird' quartets. Available in a two-for-one deal, this delectable set is a bargain, too’ (The Sunday Times)

‘The lovely plangency of gut strings … the many examples of Haydn's wit are laid out with an audible twinkle in the eye. The musicians know how to have gentle fun together—and they seem happy to welcome interested listeners in to share it with them’ (Gramophone)

‘Does it need saying that they're awfully good? Here is Haydn in all his inexhaustible moods and guises … a constant source of wonder … the Takács players have the magical gift of playing them so that they seem absolutely right … in the opening Adagio of Op 71 No 2, rich broken chords—no attacking crunches here—punctuate a line of soft and delicious anticipation leading into the open-hearted high jinks of the Allegro … a constant and rewarding delight’ (The Strad)

‘Now led by the Englishman Edward Dusinberre—who relishes the Haydn virtuosity demanded of Salomon—the Takács play this ever-surprising music with their characteristic imagination, contrapuntal rigour, sensitivity to texture and colour, and, in the dizzying finales, wit. They are the epitome of Goethe's four intelligent conversationalists, always fresh in their response to Haydn's astonishing inventiveness’ (The Sunday Times)

‘Structure and integrity of feeling are heard here in abundance … they unfold the Adagio cantabile of the Quartet in D major, Op 71 No 2 with an unhurried fullness and luminosity … these readings never sound mannered, but alive’ (BBC Music Magazine)

‘The musicians' clarity of line and perfect balance, well reflected in Hyperion's recording … after these magnificent CDs, if the Takács wanted to record Haydn's other 62 quartets, I wouldn't raise a hand to stop them’ (The Times)

‘Takács Quartet delivers these works with commanding verve and style, often casting novel perspectives on pieces which deserve to be far better known than they actually are … Op 71 No 2 has at its heart one of the most radiant Adagio slow movements to be found among Haydn's later quartets … and it is played here with exceptionally beautiful tone and unerring refinement by the Takács Quartet’ (Gramophone)

‘Does it need saying that they're awfully good? Here is Haydn in all his inexhaustible moods and guises … a constant source of wonder … the Takács players have the magical gift of playing them so that they seem absolutely right … a naïve elegance pervades the Andante grazioso of Op 74 No 1, played with apparent, and deceptive, simplicity … these two discs are a constant and rewarding delight’ (The Strad)

‘Hyperion's wonderful recording … has remarkable clarity, focus and spatial realism … [Op 74 No 1] The finale … is wonderfully brought off by the Takács, with the players relishing Haydn's bravura passagework and near-orchestral sonorities, while the cello's drone-bass effects later on have real humour … there is a similarly highly-charged reading of the stunning Presto finale of Op 74 No 2, one of Haydn's virtuoso essays in quartet writing’ (International Record Review)

‘The musicians' clarity of line and perfect balance, well reflected in Hyperion's recording … after these magnificent CDs, if the Takács wanted to record Haydn's other 62 quartets, I wouldn't raise a hand to stop them’ (The Times)

‘Led by the Englishman Edward Dusinberre—who relishes the virtuosity Haydn demanded of Salomon—the Takacs play this ever-surprising music with their characteristic imagination, contrapuntal rigour, sensitivity to texture and colour, and, in the dizzying finales, wit. They are the epitome of Goethe's four intelligent conversationalists, always fresh in their response to Haydn's astonishing inventiveness’ (The Sunday Times)