Haydn's Haus

[Gurn Blanston]

It will be hard to recreate one of my favorite threads from the old forum, so the heck with it, we shall expand "The Corner" into an entire house!

Since we have essentially reviewed every symphony recording ever made, let's put that back for a bit (really, no more London Symphonies recs for a while, please   ) and talk about some of the more offbeat stuff, like divertimentos and the chamber music that ISN'T string quartets (or even piano trios!).  Or even the non-cello concertos, for that matter.

[Bogey]

I will start my friend.  For all those that do not have the following winds recording, I am sure the the following disc is one you will enjoy....and one that you may want to purchase while it remains available.  I know I have posted this before, but I believe it deserves another look:




Divertimento for 6 instruments in D major, H. 2/13
and
Divertimento (Fieldparthie) for 6 instruments in E flat major, H. 2/12

along with:

Partita for 2 clarinets, 2 horns, & 2 bassoons in C minor
Composed by Franz Krommer

You may sample here:

http://www.amazon.com/Music-Winds-Franz-Joseph-Haydn/dp/B00000K2UB/ref=sr_1_32/102-7134284-2880939?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1175907245&sr=1-32

[Gurn Blanston]

Excellent start, Bill. I have that disk too, not only is the Haydn very good, but that c minor sextet is a great intro to Krommer for those few who are unfamiliar with him!

I'm am not just overrun with Haydn divertimentos, although I have a few. The difficulty in recommending is that many of them are OOP.   One that is OOP, but still frequently available in Amazon Marketplace or eBay is on SONY, called "Haydn 'The Natural Horn'". It features L'Archibudelli with Ab Koster on horn, and the contents are:

Hob deest (means "not appearing in Hoboken", BTW) - Cassation in D for 4 Horns, Violin, Viola & Bass
Hob II:21 - Divertimento in Eb for 2 Horns and String Quartet (a very popular combination in those days)
Hob VIId:3 Concerto in D for Horn, 2 Oboes & Strings
Hob IV:5 Divertimento à tre in Eb for Horn, Violin & Cello (yup, that's a Horn Trio)
Hob II:22 Divertimento in D for 2 Horns & String Quartet

This is a super disk for lovers of the natural horn and Haydn in general.

[Bogey]

I have been very pleased with these two volumes below that you recommended Gurn (from a four volume set) as played by the Vienna Philharmonia Trio.  They have now reached a "low sock" status at Arkive Music, so I should hurry and get the first two volumes, which are at special order status, which may mean they are OOP.

[hornteacher]

Excellent start, Bill. I have that disk too, not only is the Haydn very good, but that c minor sextet is a great intro to Krommer for those few who are unfamiliar with him!

I'm am not just overrun with Haydn divertimentos, although I have a few. The difficulty in recommending is that many of them are OOP.   One that is OOP, but still frequently available in Amazon Marketplace or eBay is on SONY, called "Haydn 'The Natural Horn'". It features L'Archibudelli with Ab Koster on horn, and the contents are:

Hob deest (means "not appearing in Hoboken", BTW) - Cassation in D for 4 Horns, Violin, Viola & Bass
Hob II:21 - Divertimento in Eb for 2 Horns and String Quartet (a very popular combination in those days)
Hob VIId:3 Concerto in D for Horn, 2 Oboes & Strings
Hob IV:5 Divertimento à tre in Eb for Horn, Violin & Cello (yup, that's a Horn Trio)
Hob II:22 Divertimento in D for 2 Horns & String Quartet

This is a super disk for lovers of the natural horn and Haydn in general.

Wow, I will check this one out.

[Gurn Blanston]

ArkivMusic has it too.  Thanks.

Ah yes, I see. It is one of their reissues. Those are very tempting, pity they don't have liner notes, but otherwise they are a great chance to get OOP stuff you would never see otherwise.

[Que]

Got this recently on Bunny's recommendation.
Marvelous, high quality Haydn, in a superb, colourful performance - that goes almost without saying..
Recommended!

Q

[Harry]

Well to give my little knowledge to this thread, may I recommend the SQ by the Buchbinder Quartet on Brilliant, now in their fourth volume. And it is really rather good. Not only are they cheap, but also well recorded and performed.

[Gurn Blanston]

Got this recently on Bunny's recommendation.
Marvelous, high quality Haydn, in a superb, colourful performance - that goes almost without saying..
Recommended!

Q

Q,
I have 6 of those on this disk:



Klocker et al play them very nicely.

Reasons I didn't get the disk you referenced:
1 The 6 on this one are positively by Haydn, the other 2 are unsure, although probably authentic.

2 The CPO disk is available everywhere, the SONY is OOP and hard to find (it's $35 US right now at Amazon)

3 I didn't know about that one until after I found this one.

Alright, call me bitter.   Although I will say this, the Klocker disk really IS very good, I play it often. Notturnos are divertimentos after all, and these make for a very nice diversion indeed.

[Gurn Blanston]

Can I discuss Haydn's masses in this thread, or is that off-limits?

How about the Baryton Octets instead? I understand that 1 of them is in d minor... 

[Harry]

Any news of yet Harry on the complete Haydn set like they put together for Mozart and Bach?

No, Bill, its a bit low fire with Brilliant, the new releases are not that many, these last 6 months or so.

[Gurn Blanston]

Yes Gurn, to my dissapointment - though that was to be expected...
I decided to just pay the fine of € 23 ($31) and forget about it quickly! 
And I must say - no regrets at all, but I'm sure the Klocker on cpo is fine too - also a favourite of others on the forum.

Q

You are much braver than I am     I deny myself at those rates, despite my yearnings. 

Another example: On Ricercar - Baryton Octets Vol. II - Excellent recording, highly recommended. Also, of course, OOP, but I found a very nice used copy for pennies! Vol. I can be had for $80 US. I don't think so.

[Bogey]

You are much braver than I am     I deny myself at those rates, despite my yearnings. 

Another example: On Ricercar - Baryton Octets Vol. II - Excellent recording, highly recommended. Also, of course, OOP, but I found a very nice used copy for pennies! Vol. I can be had for $80 US. I don't think so.

And this one I believe as well:



Though now it is only $14 from  handful of sellers on Amazon (reg. price: $23).

[Que]

You are much braver than I am     I deny myself at those rates, despite my yearnings. 

Another example: On Ricercar - Baryton Octets Vol. II - Excellent recording, highly recommended. Also, of course, OOP, but I found a very nice used copy for pennies! Vol. I can be had for $80 US. I don't think so.

Gurn, please tell me: are those performances good?
Because I believe they have been reissued as a 2CD set!
€20 at jpc, that's not bad for a small (tiny  ) label...

Q

[Gurn Blanston]

Gurn, please tell me: are those performances good?
Because I believe they have been reissued as a 2CD set!
€20 at jpc, that's not bad for a small (tiny  ) label...

Q

Hah! Reissued, eh? Anyway, yes, they are very good. The true sound and beauty of the baryton must be hard to capture on recordings, since even in the various trios I have it tends to be hit and miss, but these octets are really quite well done in that regard.

JPC, let's see, 20€ for the disks + 15€ for S & H..... hey, maybe they will be released over here. I can be patient.

[Harry]

Urgent call for Andy!

[Harry]

Althought I would recommend these symphonies under Fischer, still I have my reservations.
Same goes for Dorati.
I would take a HIP recording any time, if I could get swift Menuets, and proper allegro's and Presto's. Haydn did write Presto because he meant Presto.

[BorisG]

I have some reservations also. That listeners should quit Haydn symphonies after the Oxford.

C-o-o-k-i-e-c-u-t-t-i-n-g.

[Gurn Blanston]

The Fischer set is an excellent value if you want a full cycle (and I do, of course). I also have the Nimbus (rather than the same set on Brilliant) and the liner notes are worth having, they are really quite handy.

Of course I would rather have a HIP set, but there isn't one, so why complain about it?  You can piece together (at great expense) a HIP cycle that has about 3/4 of the symphonies, but it isn't the same, is it? You get one conductor's (and one band's) take on the whole cycle here, and it is a pretty darn good one too. The London set was recorded first, and as such is probably the weakest. Which is not the same as saying "it sucks". But there is a lot of competition out there in that repertoire, and if you are bothered by that, you can always upgrade just those very nicely.

And the sound is good too, I might add, which hasn't been my experience with the few Dorati disks I have (6, 7 & 8 and the Paris Symphonies).

In short, if it is your intent to purchase a full cycle, you won't do better than this.

[SonicMan46]

I came across this awhile ago, and just today it popped up in my amazon reccommendation list. Any thoughts or comments? It's about time I returned to Herr Haydn and these wonderful symphones. Any info on 94 or 104 would be doubly appreciated.............

Steve - let me pose a question since your thread beings w/ 'Haydn's London Symphonies...' - can we assume that recommendations on these works (whether 'modern' or HIP) is the main purpose of this thread?  If so, great!  I have one set of the London Symphonies w/ Colin Davis (a couple of bargin Philips Duos) - no big problem for a 'modern' set; but would like to have more recommendations, esp. potential HIP performances which seem pretty non-existent (have plenty of HIP discs of earlier symphonies, though); so, what's the verdict?  Thanks -