‘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)

‘The musicians' excellent internal balancing allows every note and expressive gesture to speak’ (Gramophone)

‘On this superb double disc set from Hyperion, the London Haydn Quartet's playing of the set is intense, passionate and revelatory. It is difficult to imagine finer interpretations of these occasionally formulaic but always melodically colourful works. The quartet—comprising Catherine Manson and Margaret Faultless on violin, James Boyd on viola and Jonathan Cohen on cello—play on gut strings with classical bows. There is to be found none of the reserve or prissiness that can sometimes characterise period performance. The sound here is bright, resonant and gritty, the lack of vibrato adding a spicy, piquant tang to the ensemble timbre. The bowing is confident; tempi are firm and steady, yet subtle inflections and rhythmic manipulations crank up the drama to breaking point’ (MusicOHM.com)

‘The London Haydn Quartet plays lovely period instruments in a gentle manner, emphasizing the beauty of the music—highly evocative’ (Fanfare, USA)

‘I quickly warmed to the pure, glowing sound of gut strings played perfectly in tune, and to the ensemble's delicacy of nuance and sensitivity to harmonic colour, treating the listener as a privileged eavesdropper … Catherine Manson is a graceful and nimble leader … the results are delightfully witty and spirited. Recorded in the warm, sympatheic acoustic of St Paul's Deptford, these performances should win new friends for an undeservedly neglected set’ (Gramophone)

‘A sonority that seems brighter and less astringent than that produced by 'period' ensembles, but one that is still far closer to what we assume to be the timbre of an eighteenth-century quartet … Hyperion's sound is ideal: close, clear and free of harshness and any intrusive breathing. In short, this is an interesting and possibly controversial release, but one that shows The London Haydn Quartet to be thoughtful, provocative and technically accomplished’ (International Record Review)

‘Without a doubt one of the all-time great Haydn quartet recordings … the original instrument London Haydn Quartet play Op 9 with such deep feeling, dynamic subtlety and phrasal sensitivity that even the simplest of ideas become things of wonder. Passages of generic cadencing and decoration that often pass by unacknowledged by other ensembles sound utterly magical here, the enhanced expressive flexibility of gut strings revelled in to the full’ (Classic FM Magazine)

'Assolutamente magnifica' (Musica, Italy)

‘Virile, colourful performances … sharply responsive to the music's robust earthiness and gleeful unpredictability’ (Gramophone)