Walter Meyer wrote:

>... The well respected music critic B.H. Haggin, who admittedly was
>occasionally eccentric and always outspoken in his opinions, but who
>was a fan of the Budapest String Quartet, described these performances,
>contrasted with the earlier ones to which you refer, as having undergone
>a "deterioration in tone and intonation and even in the treatment of the
>music [that] reached the point where the playing was not only musically
>unsatisfying but unpleasant to listen to."

That sounds a tad harsh but compared to the earlier recordings they are a
disappointment indeed as are the *middle quartets*.  But then the forties
recordings are almost unsurpassable IMO.  I am referring to the Columbia
recordings here.  I didn't even know there was such a thing as an earlier
recording (thet one on Bridge).  Is this available somewhere in whatever
medium?

Philip