Mozart,Haydn,Beethoven String Quartets......

Wow...thanks to all...as usual...Audiogoners seem to really know their stuff...any thoughts on Schubert's "Death and the Maiden"? Also, as far as I know, Haydn pretty much perfected the genre...with Mozart and Beethoven following suite...are there are lesser known quartets that come to mind..I do have Borodin done by the Borodin quartet which is world class...any thoughts?

The Borodin by Borodin are indeed spectacular. For "Death and the Maiden" there are excellent recordings by the Emerson and Tokyo, and the best of all is the Busch Quartet from the 1930s (which can be found, or could once, on EMI/Angel CD: don't sweat the dated sound, it's surprisingly vivid). You might want to try the Brahms quartets (Alban Berg, Takacs are good), the Bartok (Tokyo, Emerson, best of all Vegh), the Janacek (Tokyo, Smetana). These are some of m favorites!

Also...anbody have the Smetana Quartet doing Mozart?...these were on the Denon label...and sound amazing...I wonder if they are still available...

Phase,

there is at least one Mozart/Smetana on the Testament label.

I think Dvorak's chamber music is also fantastic. Give a listen to the old RCA (I think) recording of the "American" String Quartet and the Piano Quintet with the Guarneri String Quartet and Arthur Rubinstein. I believe the album also includes the Brahms f minor Piano Quintet. Truly great performances.