Haydn's Haus

[Brian]

Just got an exciting email announcing Vol. 5 of the "Haydn 2032" project! It will be the first to feature the Basel Chamber Orchestra, and it focuses on Haydn's friendship with J.M. Kraus.

The concert programs being performed later this month:

Basel Chamber Orchestra
Giovanni Antonini, conductor

Joseph Haydn:
Symphony no. 19 in D major
Symphony no. 80 in D minor
Symphony no. 81 in G major
Joseph Martin Kraus:
Symphony in C Minor

They are also holding the first academic symposium for the project: "Sturm und Drang Revisited: Haydn, Kraus, and Others" in Basel in a couple weeks.

The Vol. 6 ("Counter-Reformation") announcement will apparently be emailed in February.

[Gurn Blanston]

Just got an exciting email announcing Vol. 5 of the "Haydn 2032" project! It will be the first to feature the Basel Chamber Orchestra, and it focuses on Haydn's friendship with J.M. Kraus.

The concert programs being performed later this month:

Basel Chamber Orchestra
Giovanni Antonini, conductor

Joseph Haydn:
Symphony no. 19 in D major
Symphony no. 80 in D minor
Symphony no. 81 in G major
Joseph Martin Kraus:
Symphony in C Minor

They are also holding the first academic symposium for the project: "Sturm und Drang Revisited: Haydn, Kraus, and Others" in Basel in a couple weeks.

The Vol. 6 ("Counter-Reformation") announcement will apparently be emailed in February.

Excellent, thanks for the news. Hell, they fall behind on this stuff though: I just got Solo e pensoso a couple of months ago, and it was preordered so I got it the day of release. And that is just Vol 3. So we are still waiting on Vol 4...   Well worth the wait though!

[SurprisedByBeauty]

Not much Haydn, but considerable Haydn chatter (review and interview w/E.z.Guttenerbg) in this piece, just up on Forbes:


The Castle Is Alive With Music: The Herrenchiemsee Festival

http://www.forbes.com/sites/jenslaurson/2016/10/07/the-castle-is-alive-with-music-the-herrenchiemsee-festival/#7d83cee9640a

"Ahhh! I love Mahler. I have two, no, three favorites. Johann Sebastian Bach, Gustav Mahler, and Anton Bruckner." I suggest that he had another favorite, whom he must love every bit as much, namely Haydn:

"Haydn? Oh, yes, that's right. I totally forgot about him now. To me, Haydn, you know... I know, Mozart and all, but I, too, actually like Haydn even better. You're often alone with that opinion, but still. And most of all, the progression of music wouldn't be thinkable without Haydn. Mozart was a monolith, but Haydn was the father of Beethoven and all those that would come, no question about it.

[Gurn Blanston]

Not much Haydn, but considerable Haydn chatter (review and interview w/E.z.Guttenerbg) in this piece, just up on Forbes:

...I suggest that he had another favorite, whom he must love every bit as much, namely Haydn:
"Haydn? Oh, yes, that's right. I totally forgot about him now. To me, Haydn, you know... I know, Mozart and all, but I, too, actually like Haydn even better. You're often alone with that opinion, but still. And most of all, the progression of music wouldn't be thinkable without Haydn. Mozart was a monolith, but Haydn was the father of Beethoven and all those that would come, no question about it.

Great quote, and so true! It is hard to find any musician who doesn't think Haydn was the cat's ass. The phrase "he was a musician's musician" was never truer of any other.   

[SurprisedByBeauty]

Great quote, and so true! It is hard to find any musician who doesn't think Haydn was the cat's ass. The phrase "he was a musician's musician" was never truer of any other.   

I collect quotes about Haydn from conductors, and from Thielemann to Salonen and everyone in between, they all gibber-gabber about their love for Haydn (some volunteer, some have to be prodded), and yet so few do much about it.

[Jo498]

Yes, "I totally forgot about him now" seems accidentally revealing...

[Gurn Blanston]

I collect quotes about Haydn from conductors, and from Thielemann to Salonen and everyone in between, they all gibber-gabber about their love for Haydn (some volunteer, some have to be prodded), and yet so few do much about it.

My Balakirev quote seems representative of that somehow to me. A mixed sort of reaction, which I like because it happens to be true for me, but which is certainly not totally hero-worshipful. 

Yes, "I totally forgot about him now" seems accidentally revealing...

I thought just the same when I read it. An afterthought, but brought on by the fact that he is quietly omnipresent, I think.

[Karl Henning]

I thought just the same when I read it. An afterthought, but brought on by the fact that he is quietly omnipresent, I think.

Tee-hee!

[SurprisedByBeauty]

I thought just the same when I read it. An afterthought, but brought on by the fact that he is quietly omnipresent, I think.

I think you are both right. He's there... and he's taken for granted... but yet we know he's the Alpha minus Bach.

[Florestan]

This is a most charming disc, the music has an almost Vivaldian playfulness. Gurn, what´s the story behind these works?

[Brian]

This is a most charming disc, the music has an almost Vivaldian playfulness. Gurn, what´s the story behind these works?

Whoa! I did not know about this body of work at all, and consider myself a lute enthusiast...watching this thread extra-carefully today.

[Florestan]

Whoa! I did not know about this body of work at all, and consider myself a lute enthusiast...watching this thread extra-carefully today.

It´s also available as part of the Haydn megabox on Brilliant Classics. That´s where I have it, actually, but the original BIS cover is much more nice. 

EDIT: Here are the works

[Gurn Blanston]

This is a most charming disc, the music has an almost Vivaldian playfulness. Gurn, what´s the story behind these works?

It is a marvelous disk, Florestan (and Brian), although I have to say that the works on it are not specifically written for the lute, but rather they are some of the early String Quartets (divertimentos) transposed over. As you can see from the back cover, not all of them are the full 5 movements. Hob 04:F2 is an attributed work, very nice, but who knows by whom? May even be Haydn!  Anyway, Lindberg and the Drottningholm guys are excellent, as you would expect, even though the music was more or less 'made to order'.   

[Gurn Blanston]

Well, it's 1794 and we are back in London. Is everything just like we left it? I don't think so! 2 years can be a long time when the world is changing at the rate it was then! See what I mean...

...by His cruel, bloodthirsty subjects

Thanks!

[kishnevi]

That must have been a really impressive bassoon....

[Gurn Blanston]

That must have been a really impressive bassoon....

I remember reading somewhere that Salomon had this virtuoso bassoonist, I think it was back in the 1792 season. When I read this my first thought was that he was still alive and well in London.

[Martin Lind]

Nice to see this wonderfull thread. I must say that for me Haydn becomes more and more important. When I was a young man, Haydn was for me completely boring. I listened to Bruckner and Mahler, music which was very expressive and creates spiritual enthusiasm. And of course Mozart and Beethoven were for me much more important.

Well, I am 55 now and not 15, and today I am much less impressed by such "overwhelming" musical experiences. What I like today at Haydn is that he writes a music which never plays to the gallery. His music impresses through substance and nothing else.

But I have one question: Which symphonies of Haydn are recommendable apart of the of course very famous Paris and London symphonies? I must say, I have listened to some of he earlier ones in my Adam Fischer box, the 60es and 70es numbers and I must say that I found them relatively boring.

What I really like are his piano sonatas. I have the Brilliant box with fortepianos, but then I have also the Derzhavina box on a modern piano. I must say that I don't like the very early sonatas which are the two first CDs in the Derzhavina box. Maybe they sound better on a cembalo. But the other sonatas who are later are nearly all masterpieces. I mean Beethoven is more "impressive", Haydn seems more simple but this has a great charme. Apart of the Brilliant box and the Derzhaviny box I have also a "Quadromania" CD box with 4 CDs. These are older recordings and I like especially the Rena Kyriakou CD. This box was very cheap but now it's very expensive as it happens sometimes.

Of the string quartetts I haven't already explored every quartett. But I have to say that the early Opus 9 and Opus 17 quartetts which are not as famous as the opus 20 are very good and I like them. I have only Buchberger of Brilliant, some Kodaly quartett CDs, and Opus 33 with the Caspar da Salo quartett, of which some people say that it is very good, although it was published on a bargain label and nobody knows who the Caspar da Salo quartett is and there are many rumours who in reality the Caspar da Salo quartett could be.

What I also want to explore are the piano trios.

Well, I have heard once the sentence "With Haydn you come never to an end". I think the sentence is true, because in Haydn there is really so much wonderfull music to discover.

[SurprisedByBeauty]

Nice to see this wonderfull thread. I must say that for me Haydn becomes more and more important. When I was a young man, Haydn was for me completely boring. I listened to Bruckner and Mahler, music which was very expressive and creates spiritual enthusiasm. And of course Mozart and Beethoven were for me much more important.

Well, I am 55 now and not 15, and today I am much less impressed by such "overwhelming" musical experiences. What I like today at Haydn is that he writes a music which never plays to the gallery. His music impresses through substance and nothing else.

Excellent description of the process. Haydn is indeed the most important composer in his way, and only because he's not "fast and loud" and not enough of an event, does he get relegated to a very dangerous back ranks. He's critical to our musical health, with "our" including musicians and especially orchestras. ("Why Haydn Should be Mandatory")

But I have one question: Which symphonies of Haydn are recommendable apart of the of course very famous Paris and London symphonies? I must say, I have listened to some of he earlier ones in my Adam Fischer box, the 60es and 70es numbers and I must say that I found them relatively boring.

That's unfortunate... but you might find revisiting alone to be worth it. The rule of thumb for Fischer Adam's Haydn is: The earlier the better, the later the less inspired. (By Symphony Number; they started with the high numbers and worked their way down and got better along the way.)

Also, the true but useless answer is: All of them, really. That's part of the miracle of Haydn; he's not an easy 'greatest hits' composer. And the works that do stand out, do so, usually, because they have a 'hook' which then resulted in a nickname which then resulted in closer attention and greater exposure. And just about any work of Haydn's, given greater exposure and more attention, turns out great. (Perhaps not the operas, which have their inalienable qualities but have aged, as a way of dealing with the genre, too much and not well enough.)

Anyway, there are some works, still, that might stand out and which have received multiple wonderful interpretations. Start with Symphonies No. 6 "Le Matin" No. 7 "Le Midi" No. 8 "Le Soir" (I find Sir Neville Marriner excellent here, much to my surprise, because I grew up thinking him the boring guy-for-everything.) Another immediately appealing one is No.44 "Mourning" (you see, the Nicknames do it. :-)) Here I like many recordings, but the old-yet-wonderful Fricsay has a special place in my heart.

Now I must run, but I'll return to this thread happily.

#HaydnCuresAllProblems

What I really like are his piano sonatas. I have the Brilliant box with fortepianos, but then I have also the Derzhavina box on a modern piano. I must say that I don't like the very early sonatas which are the two first CDs in the Derzhavina box. Maybe they sound better on a cembalo. But the other sonatas who are later are nearly all masterpieces. I mean Beethoven is more "impressive", Haydn seems more simple but this has a great charme. Apart of the Brilliant box and the Derzhaviny box I have also a "Quadromania" CD box with 4 CDs. These are older recordings and I like especially the Rena Kyriakou CD. This box was very cheap but now it's very expensive as it happens sometimes.

Of the string quartetts I haven't already explored every quartett. But I have to say that the early Opus 9 and Opus 17 quartetts which are not as famous as the opus 20 are very good and I like them. I have only Buchberger of Brilliant, some Kodaly quartett CDs, and Opus 33 with the Caspar da Salo quartett, of which some people say that it is very good, although it was published on a bargain label and nobody knows who the Caspar da Salo quartett is and there are many rumours who in reality the Caspar da Salo quartett could be.

What I also want to explore are the piano trios.

Well, I have heard once the sentence "With Haydn you come never to an end". I think the sentence is true, because in Haydn there is really so much wonderfull music to discover.

[Florestan]

Haydn told Dies about staying the night in Wiesbaden. From his room, Haydn heard someone playing the Andante from the Surprise symphony on the pianoforte. Figuring the player would be well-disposed towards him, he found a group of Prussian officers whom he engaged in discussion. Finding they were great admirers of his music, he introduced himself. They refused to believe he was really Haydn, saying "impossible, you are too old to be Haydn, there is too much fire in your music".

The incomparable Haydn produced a new Overture of which it is impossible to speak in common terms. It is one of the grandest efforts of the art that we have ever witnessed. It abounds with ideas, as new in music as they are grand and impressive ; it rouses and affects every emotion of the soul.

Hah!

Great installment, as usual.

I wonder if there are any German officers left who play Haydn in their evening meetings... or, are there any German officers passionately interested in, and playing, German contemporary music?... 

[Florestan]

I try to recreate that concert. Good candidates are:

- for the Rosetti symphony, the G minor Kaul I:27, Murray A41. It dates from 1787, but the program doesn´t advertise it as "new" and moreover "grand" suits it perfectly.



- for the Viotti "new concerto", the D major W20/G92 (1795)



I´ve been less sucessfull in identifying the Dussek "new concerto". Any ideas and recommended recordings?

As for the arias and scenes, the case is hopeless. No titles provided, no composers either.