William Jenks about Haydn quartets:

>Do any of you out there that have a number of these have opinions about the
>merits of the Kodalys or the various other options?

As a first set you can't go wrong with the Kodalys.  Although both
performance and sound are of variable quality throughout the series, they
are never below "decent" levels, and often are outstanding; eg their Op.50
is the best (modern instrument) version available AFAIK.

Another outstanding budget set is the Endellion quartets Virgin twofer
with the Op.54 and Op.74, an excellent buy.

>Also, which of the quartets ought to be on my "must have" list?

All of them:) But you don't loose much by sticking to Op.20 and later,
and starting with a reverse chronological order might be a good idea.

Ulvi
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