Peter Cropper and the Lindsay String Quintet join Wilhelm Furtwängler, Bruno Walter, Artur Schnabel, Hans Hotter, and a few others as the greatest performing artists in the era of recorded music. Their Beethoven quartets are famous and their Schubert is just as good. I recently bought some of their Mozart and found the same intensity, mental concentration, intimate dialogue between four individuals, and the feeling that I’m sitting in on a private performance for a few friends. But here is the best part: their Mozart does not sound at all like their Beethoven or their Schubert. There is no attempt to “modernize” or “romanticize” the music. This is late-18th century music, performed with the seriousness it deserves because it is some of Mozart’s finest. The Lindsay’s Mozart tempos are generally a little bit faster than other top-notch recordings of the 1970-2000 era (Chilingirian, Grumiaux), adding to the intensity but never feeling rushed. Kudos also to the contribution of Martin Haskell, the recording engineer from ASV (which, as far as I’m concerned, stands for Amazing Sound and Vitality).This CD includes Quartet No. 14 in G major, K 387 and String Quintet No. 4 in G minor, K 516 (with Patrick Ireland as 2nd viola). The Lindsays make the Quartet sizzle with Mozart’s still-youthful energy. Mozart weaves intricate counterpoint and several “retro” motifs that evoke earlier composers such as Bach’s sons into a sparkling, listener-friendly composition. “Mozart carries his learning lightly.” [Stanley Sadie] The Quintet’s first movement and minuet are some of Mozart’s most passionate and disturbing music, with extensive chromaticism; but the second movement’s trio and the slow movement’s various dialogues of the 1st violin with the cello or with either viola are balm for the soul and the finale is the exultation of an Enlightenment man who has conquered adversity.Mozart’s string quartets are usually numbered 1 to 23, of which nos. 14-19 are the famous set of six quartets that Mozart “dedicated to Haydn”; his string quintets are usually numbered 1 to 6. There are 7 CDs of Mozart quartets played by the Lindsay String Quartet. Peter Cropper (1st violin), Ronald Birks (2nd violin), and Bernard Gregor-Smith (cello) play on all 7 CDs. In 1975, when Roger Bigley was the Lindsay’s very capable violist, they recorded:• Quartet No. 17 in B flat major, K 458 (Hunt) and Quartet No. 19 in C major, K 465 (Dissonance), which EMI released as a CD in 1998In the 1990s, when Robin Ireland was their violist, also very capable, they recorded all six of the quartets Mozart dedicated to Haydn (Nos. 14 to 19, including the Hunt and the Dissonance) plus other Mozart chamber music. ASV released 6 CDs, each featuring one of the quartets plus one or more other compositions. The 6 CDs are:• Quartet No. 14 in G major, K 387 with String Quintet No. 4 in G minor, K 516 (with Robin Ireland’s father Patrick, formerly of the Allegri Quartet, as 2nd viola)• Quartet No. 15 in D minor, K 421 with String Quintet No. 5 in D major, K 593 (with Louise Williams of the Chilingirian Quartet, as 2nd viola)• Quartet No. 16 in E flat major, K 428 with String Quintet No. 3 in C major, K 515 (with Louise Williams as 2nd viola)• Quartet No. 17 in B flat major, K 458 (Hunt) with Oboe Quartet in F major, K 370 (with Nicholas Daniel, oboe) and Horn Quintet in E flat major, K 407 (with Stephen Bell, French horn)• Quartet No. 18 in A major, K 464 with Clarinet Quintet in A major, K 581 (with Janet Hilton, clarinet)• Quartet No. 19 in C major, K 465 (Dissonance) with String Quintet No. 6 in E flat major, K 614 (with Louise Williams as 2nd viola)In other words, they recorded the six quartets Mozart dedicated to Haydn (and, among those, the Hunt and the Dissonance quartets, twice); the three great string quintets, K 515, 516, and 593; the glorious Clarinet Quintet; and also the K 614 String Quintet, the Oboe Quartet, and the Horn Quintet. Regrettably, they did not record Quartet No. 20 in D major, K 499 (Hoffmeister), which, in my opinion, is even nobler than the six quartets dedicated to Haydn (the Chilingirian Quartet has an outstanding recording, together with Quartet No. 21 in D major, K 575).Those of us on a budget need to assign priorities for these 7 CDs. I would give low priority to the 2 separate ASV CDs with the Hunt and the Dissonance Quartets, because EMI offers both of them on a single CD, performed equally well or perhaps even better. (However, if you have a particular love for the Oboe Quartet, the Horn Quintet, and/or the K 614 String Quintet, you might give those 2 ASV CDs higher priority). I would give high priority to the EMI CD with the Hunt and Dissonance Quartets and to the other 4 ASV CDs, each of which contains one of the other quartets dedicated to Haydn and one great quintet. If you can find any of these 5 CDs at reasonable prices, snap them up, because stocks are running out. If all 5 were simultaneously available at reasonable prices, I guess my first choices would be: (1) the K 464 Quartet in A major (my favorite of the 6 quartets dedicated to Haydn) with the Clarinet Quintet; (2) the K 428 Quartet in E flat major with the incomparable K 515 String Quintet in C major.I must disagree with various reviewers (of other Lindsay CDs) who have nitpicked the Lindsays’ technique, polish, or beauty of tone in contrast to their indisputable “heart” and knowledge of the music. To me, this is one of those myths like “Schubert could not write a proper sonata movement.” Of course, if you want quartets that sound like polite background music at a society tea or like the performance of a single person with eight arms on a single instrument with 16 strings, you probably wouldn’t care for the Lindsays, who are four distinct individuals working beautifully together. Peter Cropper doesn’t sound exactly like Ronald Birks, and he shouldn’t, because when a composer purposely introduces a new theme in the 2nd violin and not in the 1st violin, there is a reason for that and it is important that you should hear it. Personally, I think Peter Cropper’s violin tone is exceptionally beautiful and I also love Bernard Gregor-Smith’s occasionally raspy cello notes, which always serve a musical purpose (such as signaling the entry of a new voice or a change of key).