I had not warmed to the opus 77 Quartets partly because of DG's engineering for the Amadeus Quartet versions. With their Opus 71 trio, the 77s were more cavernous, less tight and

boxy than I prefer-compare them, for example, to the sound of the Amadeus great opus 76 set. I prefer the Lindsays opus 77/103/42..Better sound and, on the whole. better playing. They observe more repeats and probe content more deeply-they reveal the greater stature of the 77s

and the valedictory opus 103-works written post Seasons. Opus 42, not part of a set, is quite

attractive, with three of its four final movements quite short-best is the Adagio e cantabile.

And the first movement, "Andante ed innocentamente", resembles Haydn's sonata in G,#40. It is

marked "Allegretto e innocente", a pastoral paradise special and numbingly beautiful. The Lindsays are great as usual in this quartet of quartets