The six string quartets of Haydn’s Op 33 include two of his most popular – the ones nicknamed the Joke and the Bird, justifying his claim that the works were written “in a completely new and special way,” at least in terms of their capacity to generate wide appeal. The London Haydn Quartet’s survey, played on period instruments and following the quirks of the 1782 edition published by Schmitt in Amsterdam (different in ordering of works, of movements within works, and in tempo markings), is lucid and studied, but also at times rather too overt in its use of artifice. There’s a lot to admire in the music-making, but you just won’t find yourself smiling as much as you might expect for music of such humour and wit. url.ie/4qdb