Haydn's Haus

[Karl Henning]

Enjoying your series here, O Gurn.

[Gurn Blanston]

Enjoying your series here, O Gurn.

Thank you, Karl. I would delight in your critical comments on Haydn's music. Very soon we will be moving into better known musical territory and I think everyone will be a bit more easy with comment when we get on more familiar ground. Some information on the use of rhetoric in composition would be a wonderful thing, if it appeals to you.

[TheGSMoeller]

Yes, Gurn, equally enjoying your writings here at the Haus.  I've been a Haydn symphony admirer for years, but have explored so many areas of his compositions, thanks to the Haus, that my collection has grown to about 5 times its size.

Seen this Huss recording several times on this thread and finally purchased it...

[asin]B0042ZH8TA[/asin]


I've always immensely enjoyed No.60, but this is my first listen to No.12. These lively performances are given such great clarity within this recording. It was recommended to me and now I'm passing that recommendation along.

[kishnevi]

Just stopping by to report that I ordered a swathe of string quartets today at Presto, which is having a sale on Hyperion and Naive: the London Haydn Quartet doing Opp. 9 and 17, and Quatour Mosaiques doing Opp. 64 and 76.  QM's recording of Op. 77 should be landing very soon--tomorrow I hope--as part of an earlier order.  And I'm preparing another order that that will include Harnoncourt's manly Masses and his Orlando Paladino that Gurn suggested.  And the Brilliant Symphony box which includes the Fischer Haydn symphonies is on its way to me.  Quite a lot of listening I'm setting myself up for to start off  2012, it seems.

[Gurn Blanston]

Yes, Gurn, equally enjoying your writings here at the Haus.  I've been a Haydn symphony admirer for years, but have explored so many areas of his compositions, thanks to the Haus, that my collection has grown to about 5 times its size.

Seen this Huss recording several times on this thread and finally purchased it...

[asin]B0042ZH8TA[/asin]


I've always immensely enjoyed No.60, but this is my first listen to No.12. These lively performances are given such great clarity within this recording. It was recommended to me and now I'm passing that recommendation along.

Glad you are enjoying the music. New music can also be "new to me" music!  That is a very fine disk, I agree. And Symphony #12, which will be coming up "next year" (i.e. - tomorrow), is one of my early favorites. It has some interesting historical aspects, as well as being a fun listen.

[Gurn Blanston]

Just stopping by to report that I ordered a swathe of string quartets today at Presto, which is having a sale on Hyperion and Naive: the London Haydn Quartet doing Opp. 9 and 17, and Quatour Mosaiques doing Opp. 64 and 76.  QM's recording of Op. 77 should be landing very soon--tomorrow I hope--as part of an earlier order.  And I'm preparing another order that that will include Harnoncourt's manly Masses and his Orlando Paladino that Gurn suggested.  And the Brilliant Symphony box which includes the Fischer Haydn symphonies is on its way to me.  Quite a lot of listening I'm setting myself up for to start off  2012, it seems.

Holy Cow! That's a big bunch of tunes there, Jeffrey! And a nice mix too, I might add. Curious what you think of the Harnoncourt masses. I haven't heard any of them, but the box has been lurking in the background.

[Elgarian]

Popped this in the player at lunchtime and listened to the whole 2 CDs straight off. Gurn - this is a terrific set in so many ways:

1. In terms of performance, I love the variety - the switching from organ to harpsichord to fortepiano, each bringing its own distinctive flavour. She has a lovely touch on the harpsichord which, like the organ, I often struggle to like. No problems here. She plays like a rippling stream. A babbling brook.

2. As for the music - my goodness. I was really getting into the feel of the stuff by the second disc, and was very struck by the repeated gathering of forward momentum - the rock & roll feeling - that he achieves in some of the allegros. Another thing that strikes me in the slower movements is how he can suddenly turn a phrase into something that becomes almost unbearably sweet (sweet in a momentarily poignant way, not a sustained cloying one) for just a couple of notes, before moving on - as if he didn't want us to dally over it because there are other things to get on with, so come on. Then there seems to be a kind of inevitability about it, afterwards, even though it seems surprising at the moment while it's happening.

I couldn't actually say that any one of these concerti stuck out as somehow 'better' than another; they all seem delightful, and at £5 per disc, well: I'm going to be getting my money's worth from these. Many thanks for the recommendation.

[Gurn Blanston]

Popped this in the player at lunchtime and listened to the whole 2 CDs straight off. Gurn - this is a terrific set in so many ways:

1. In terms of performance, I love the variety - the switching from organ to harpsichord to fortepiano, each bringing its own distinctive flavour. She has a lovely touch on the harpsichord which, like the organ, I often struggle to like. No problems here. She plays like a rippling stream. A babbling brook.

2. As for the music - my goodness. I was really getting into the feel of the stuff by the second disc, and was very struck by the repeated gathering of forward momentum - the rock & roll feeling - that he achieves in some of the allegros. Another thing that strikes me in the slower movements is how he can suddenly turn a phrase into something that becomes almost unbearably sweet (sweet in a momentarily poignant way, not a sustained cloying one) for just a couple of notes, before moving on - as if he didn't want us to dally over it because there are other things to get on with, so come on. Then there seems to be a kind of inevitability about it, afterwards, even though it seems surprising at the moment while it's happening.

I couldn't actually say that any one of these concerti stuck out as somehow 'better' than another; they all seem delightful, and at £5 per disc, well: I'm going to be getting my money's worth from these. Many thanks for the recommendation.

You are more than welcome, Alan. In his own time, or possibly even today (not sure what's what today, about so many things),Haydn was known, and admired, for the sheer quality of his slow movements. You could say they were a specialty. My personal pleasure comes from his Andante's, which are mainly represented in his minuets and scherzos. But despite his more subtle approach, the beauty is undeniable by anyone who will listen. Clearly you did. 0:)

[Karl Henning]

. . . She has a lovely touch on the harpsichord which, like the organ, I often struggle to like.

Interesting, Alan! It was not until I met a harpsichordist myself that my ears really keyed in (as it were) to the instrument's virtues, and variety.  And now I can readily tell the difference between the harpsichord music of four or five Baroque composers, where earlier, it would all have sounded much the same to me . . . .

[Elgarian]

Interesting, Alan! It was not until I met a harpsichordist myself that my ears really keyed in (as it were) to the instrument's virtues, and variety.  And now I can readily tell the difference between the harpsichord music of four or five Baroque composers, where earlier, it would all have sounded much the same to me . . . .

Perception is a weird business, isn't it? I'm sure I can't tell the difference between different composers' approach to the instrument, but I am almost certain that this lunchtime, listening to Ms Schornsheim's Haydn, marks the first occasion where I've responded to the harpsichord without Beechamesque reservations, instead simply thinking 'Oh, how lovely'.

[kishnevi]

Holy Cow! That's a big bunch of tunes there, Jeffrey! And a nice mix too, I might add. Curious what you think of the Harnoncourt masses. I haven't heard any of them, but the box has been lurking in the background.

Well, actually, there's been a slight change of plans.  The manly Masses are still there, but Orlando Paladino has been taken out of the cart.  Because...because today I decided to check out the Fort Lauderdale Barnes and Noble, and discovered they had some box sets they don't usually have--I suppose they're seeding them for the Christmas buying season.
And one of them was....
[asin]B002EPLGWU[/asin]
Minus the member discounts, 20 percent off coupon, etc.  it came to about $54--a little higher than on Amazon Marketplace, but I figure that's what I paid for being able to have it in my hot little hands today.

And to go along with it
[asin]B0000057DU[/asin]

Now off to work tomorrow to earn the money to pay for them

Since the liner notes for the opera set are close to nonexistent (just cast listing, track listing and  relatively brief synopses of the plots), it doesn't explain what the dozen or so detached arias (plus a terzett and a cantata) included to fill out two of the CDs actually are.  I'm assuming they are arias Haydn wrote to be inserted in other people's operas.  Would I be right?

[Gurn Blanston]

Well, actually, there's been a slight change of plans.  The manly Masses are still there, but Orlando Paladino has been taken out of the cart.  Because...because today I decided to check out the Fort Lauderdale Barnes and Noble, and discovered they had some box sets they don't usually have--I suppose they're seeding them for the Christmas buying season.
And one of them was....
[asin]B002EPLGWU[/asin]
Minus the member discounts, 20 percent off coupon, etc.  it came to about $54--a little higher than on Amazon Marketplace, but I figure that's what I paid for being able to have it in my hot little hands today.

And to go along with it
[asin]B0000057DU[/asin]

Now off to work tomorrow to earn the money to pay for them

Oh, Bravo!

In a masterpiece of timing, I decided to buy these 2 boxes at a great price (<>$40 EACH) about a month before that box was released.



There is no advantage to either one or the other version, since neither has the librettos, just that synopsis. Now, if you really wanted to pay some money and spend some time looking around for them, I understand that the original single-opera versions had the libretto on board.



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Now playing:
  Marcia Hadjimarkos - Hob 16_44 Sonata in g for Keyboard 2nd mvmt - Allegretto

[Gurn Blanston]

Well, actually, there's been a slight change of plans.  The manly Masses are still there, but Orlando Paladino has been taken out of the cart.  Because...because today I decided to check out the Fort Lauderdale Barnes and Noble, and discovered they had some box sets they don't usually have--I suppose they're seeding them for the Christmas buying season.
And one of them was....

Minus the member discounts, 20 percent off coupon, etc.  it came to about $54--a little higher than on Amazon Marketplace, but I figure that's what I paid for being able to have it in my hot little hands today.

And to go along with it
[asin]B0000057DU[/asin]

Now off to work tomorrow to earn the money to pay for them

Since the liner notes for the opera set are close to nonexistent (just cast listing, track listing and  relatively brief synopses of the plots), it doesn't explain what the dozen or so detached arias (plus a terzett and a cantata) included to fill out two of the CDs actually are.  I'm assuming they are arias Haydn wrote to be inserted in other people's operas.  Would I be right?

Oops, forgot to finish!

Yes, you would be right, They are "insertion arias". Ordinarily, since arias are composed with a specific singer in mind (or were in the 18th century), if they decide to do an opera and they don't have a prima donna for example with that vocal range, then Haydn would write a new one to fit. Since they produced all sorts of operas at Esterhazy, not just Haydn's, this was an often-necessary phenomenon. That, and his mistress didn't have much range, and he frequently wrote arias just for her.

I like that Pinnock disk, as I've mentioned here before. I think everyone should have one.

[TheGSMoeller]

.
[asin]B000E6G7CU[/asin]



Just recently purchased this disc, now giving me five recordings of Haydn's Seven Last Words...(2 Choral, 2 StringQ. & 1 Orchestral). This Accentus/Academy for Ancient Music Berlin performance clocks in at approximately 10 minutes faster than my other discs, the quicker tempos create a livelier atmosphere while never losing the dramatic tone. The sound is very intimate with a great balance between orchestra and the voices, this is an advantage I find over the other choral version I own (Harnoncourt/Concentus Musicus Wien), I haven't researched this but I'm wondering if the orchestral/choir numbers are smaller on this Naïve recording than with Harnoncourts. This piece continues to amaze me, and the fact that Haydn was successful in translating it to different formats is astonishing. This recording might leap the sting quartet version for my go-to version of Seven Last Words...

[Antoine Marchand]

.
[asin]B000E6G7CU[/asin]



Just recently purchased this disc, now giving me five recordings of Haydn's Seven Last Words...(2 Choral, 2 StringQ. & 1 Orchestral). This Accentus/Academy for Ancient Music Berlin performance clocks in at approximately 10 minutes faster than my other discs, the quicker tempos create a livelier atmosphere while never losing the dramatic tone. The sound is very intimate with a great balance between orchestra and the voices, this is an advantage I find over the other choral version I own (Harnoncourt/Concentus Musicus Wien), I haven't researched this but I'm wondering if the orchestral/choir numbers are smaller on this Naïve recording than with Harnoncourts. This piece continues to amaze me, and the fact that Haydn was successful in translating it to different formats is astonishing. This recording might leap the sting quartet version for my go-to version of Seven Last Words...

Well, Greg. You probably need the fortepiano reduction now. I mean to close the circle. 

BTW, I think the feeling of Equilbey's version as more "balanced" than Harnoncourt's version is probably an effect of the colla parte technique used by Equilbey. A complete explanation is included in the liner notes. 

[Sergeant Rock]

I am surprised of how much it does not remind me of Klemperer.   Enjoyable.

Klemperer's Haydn and Mozart symphonies exhibit none of the stereotypical "Old Klemperer" idiosyncracies. His little G minor, for example, is blistering! Makes the HIPsters sound leaden in comparison.

I note they don't mention when it was recorded. I'm sure someone will tell us that the New PO makes it between 1970 and his death, or whatever the true facts are.    Nice variety there of the late works.

Recording years:

88 - 1964
92 - 1971
95 - 1970
98 - 1960
100 - 1965
101 - 1960
102 - 1965
104 - 1964

Sarge

[Karl Henning]

There may not be any Haydn in my life for four days.

[Sergeant Rock]

There may not be any Haydn in my life for four days.

Why?

[Karl Henning]

Traveling! Off to do some Henningmusick in Wooster.

But Cato & I shall meet ... perhaps some Haydn may grace mine ears after all.

[Sergeant Rock]

Traveling! Off to do some Henningmusick in Wooster.

Ah, yes. I remember now. You'll be in Rock territory. Wish I could join you.

Sarge