Haydn's Haus

[mc ukrneal]

Perfect!

[jlaurson]

I did some research. Here's a more detailed answer to your question:

Fey has recorded 41 of Haydn's symphonies so far (39 with the Heidelberger Sinfoniker, 2 with the Schlierbacher Kammerorchester). The Paris symphonies are also available packaged together...

Sarge

I'm checking at the source to see if more information can be gotten re: recording plans/schedule. Will keep you posted.

[TheGSMoeller]

I did some research. Here's a more detailed answer to your question:

Vol.02 - 45 64 (with the Schlierbacher Kammerorchester - may be oop now)

The Paris symphonies are also available packaged together...

Sarge

There are some Nos.45/64 on Amazon MP, affordable prices.
Also, you'll end up getting all of the Paris symphonies if you get the individual discs as No.82 is with 88 & 95, and Nos.86, 87 are with 69. Might save some money.

[Sergeant Rock]

I'm checking at the source to see if more information can be gotten re: recording plans/schedule. Will keep you posted.

Thanks. I am curious to know if I'll live long enough to see its completion    Will it be within a couple of years, or are we talking another decade? Whatever you can find out would be much appreciated.

Sarge

[Sergeant Rock]

There are some Nos.45/64 on Amazon MP, affordable prices.

I noticed that too, and I grabbed one of them shortly after I posted (less than 4 Euro). The CD isn't listed on the Hänssler website which makes me think it has been deleted. Could be just an oversight though...or maybe the search engine overlooked it.

Sarge

[Gurn Blanston]

Part 36

1787

...the year of some of my favorite Haydn works. I know, I know, I say that every year, but this year I really mean it!

Symphony Hob 88 has been considered by many connoisseurs over the intervening 200+ years as one of Haydn's greatest in the genre, certainly the best one without a name ("The Letter V" is nothing more than part of an old numbering system). This little quote from Brahms that I picked off Wiki says more than I could;

The slow movement in D major consists mainly of embellishments of the legato oboe theme which opens it, though every so often is punctuated by chords played by the whole orchestra. After hearing this slow movement, Johannes Brahms is said to have remarked, "I want my Ninth Symphony to sound like this". It is the first of Haydn's symphonies to use trumpets and timpani in the slow movement.

And then, my personal favorite set of string quartets. From the rapid heartbeat pulsing of the cello that opens #1 to the bariolage in "The Frog", I feel that this group, which many scholars believe was Haydn's musical reply to Mozart's "Haydn Quartets", is his most distilled and concentrated effort, combining the various innovations that came before with new ideas for the future. If this opus is new to you (and it could well be, because it isn't popular, nor was it meant to be), then you owe it to yourself to give it a try.

Yet another quartet work from this year was the transcription of the "Seven Last Words". Not one to let the grass grow underfoot, nor let someone else (inevitably they would) steal the show, Haydn was quick to take up these popular presentations; the quartet version which he composed himself, and the keyboard version which was done by Anonymous under his watchful eye. The quartet version is actually the one which most people (including yours truly) heard first; it is still the favorite of thousands.

We also see the final three concerti for Lira organizzata for the King of Naples completed and sent on this year. It didn't take long for Haydn to start reusing his good ideas, as the 2nd & 3rd  movements of #5 pop up in the slow movement and finale of Symphony Hob 89 in this very same year!

Finally we end up with 3 more replacement arias; 2 for men and one for Luigia. As always, each is at least on a par with its intended target for replacement. A proper appreciation of Haydn's great ability to write for the voice, a result of talent, practice and the fortuitous teachings of Porpora continues to grow.


The music of 1787;

Hob 01_088 Symphony #88 in G
   Tafelmusik / Bruno Weil
Hob 01_089 Symphony #89 in F
   Orchestra of the 18th Century / Brüggen



Hob 03_44 Quartet in Bb for Strings Op 50 #1
Hob 03_45 Quartet in C for Strings Op 50 #2
Hob 03_46 Quartet in Eb for Strings Op 50 #3
Hob 03_47 Quartet in f# for Strings Op 50 #4
Hob 03_48 Quartet in F for Strings Op 50 #5
Hob 03_49 Quartet in D for Strings Op 50 #6
   Salomon Quartet



Hob 03_50 'The 7 Last Words' for String Quartet
   The Kuijken String Quartet



Hob 07h_3 Concerto in G for 2 Lira (Naples Version)
Hob 07h_4 Concerto in F for 2 Lira (Naples Version)
Hob 07h_5 Concerto in F for 2 Lira (Naples Version)
   Ruf / Lautenberger &  Nielen / Beyer & Berndt / Uhl / Koch / Hoffman & Irmscher



Hob 20_03 The Seven Last Words of Christ on the Cross for Keyboard
   Ronald Brautigam



Hob 24b_10 Aria for Tenor "Ah, tu non senti - Qual destra omicida" for Oreste (Tenor) - "Ifigenia in Tauride" by Traetta
   Manfred Huss / Haydn Sinfonietta Wien - Bernard Richter

Hob 24b_11 Aria for Baritone  'Un cor s'i tenero' for Ormondo (Bar) - "Il disertore" by Bianchi
   Concentus musicus Wien / Harnoncourt   Thomas Hampson

Hob 24b_12 Aria for Soprano  " Vada adagio, Signorina" for Cardellina (Sop) - "La quakera spiritosa" by Guglielmi
   L'Orfeo Baroque Orchestra / Gaigg   Nuria Rial



There are three readily available PI versions of the two symphonies of this year; Weil, Brüggen and Kuijken. After a steady session of listening and re-listening, I came away with Weil and Brüggen, as you see. The fact is, I listen to Kuijken as much as or more than either of the other two, so what do I know?    All three versions are very creditable, but I like the joie de vivre that the Canadians impart to Hob 88. It jumps!

PI versions (and MI ones too, for that matter) of Op 50 are less readily available than Op 33, 64 or 76. The two I have, Festetics and Salomon, are both very fine, but I gave the nod to the Salomon's on Hyperion because I think it is their finest effort in the disks I have heard, and the slightly more deliberate attack they have is very well-suited to these works. And they were amazingly easy to find and affordable, at least they were a year ago. I am totally delighted with this investment.

Another surprisingly easy to find and afford disk was also the tops (for me) quartet version of The Seven Last Words. Denon's Kuijken Quartet disks from Japan are generally prohibitively expensive and difficult to find. This is the exception that proves the rule, plus it is hard to beat when it comes to allowing the listener into the music. It's a peach.

No point in getting away from a good thing. For the final three Lira concerti I am sticking with these guys; Ruf / Lautenberger &  Nielen / Beyer & Berndt / Uhl / Koch / Hoffman & Irmscher. When you get along to the Romanze of #3, prepare for the surprise of hearing the entire Allegretto of the "Military" symphony, sans Turkish section. Well, if you write good enough music, it doesn't matter how often you reuse it...   Anyway, as I mentioned earlier, this set doesn't appear to be available at all, except in the Big Box. As though there weren't 149 other reasons to buy it...   0:)

Some tough choices to make when we get to the keyboard version of The Seven Last Words. Häkkinen, Tuma and Oort all make persuasive arguments, but for me, El Terremoto of Brautigam stole the day. YMMV, I really make no argument for any one over another, I just listen to this one the most. 

We have three different artists in our three arias this year. And for once, it isn't me being fickle. Fact is, these are the only three versions I have of each of these, and I am thankful that they are all excellent. The Harnoncourt/Hampson one was a particular surprise because I had been lacking it for a long time, and when I recently bought the Harnoncourt symphonies box at a bargain price, lo and behold! It was a throw-in filler that wasn't even listed in the advert. Heck of a filler though, because it is a wonderful version of a very nice aria.

So, 1787 draws to a close. I'm going to fire it up as soon as I post this and spend a wonderful evening with some equally wonderful music. 

[TheGSMoeller]

Thanks, Gurn. Another fine and superbly written segment. Your enthusiasm for Haydn's music enhances the reading, and it's very influential.

[Gurn Blanston]

Thanks, Gurn. Another fine and superbly written segment. Your enthusiasm for Haydn's music enhances the reading, and it's very influential.

Thanks, Greg. I'm very pleased that you enjoyed it. Hope it gives you some listening ideas. OK, I'll admit it; I have always been a Haydn fan since I was a mere lad (my father used to play his 'London Symphonies' LP's regularly). Now, perhaps, one could expand the 'fan' into its original meaning....



----------------
Now playing:


The Hanover Band; Goodman - Hob 01_019 Symphony in D 3rd mvmt - Presto

[Bogey]

Thanks, Greg. I'm very pleased that you enjoyed it. Hope it gives you some listening ideas. OK, I'll admit it; I have always been a Haydn fan since I was a mere lad (my father used to play his 'London Symphonies' LP's regularly). Now, perhaps, one could expand the 'fan' into its original meaning....

That warm analogue sound never leaves you.  Like a warm blanket around the mind.

[Gurn Blanston]

That warm analogue sound never leaves you.  Like a warm blanket around the mind.

Well, that and the pops and scratches...   I wish I could remember, though, who were performing those symphonies. They are probably better in my memory than they would be in reality, but still...

[Bogey]

Well, that and the pops and scratches...   I wish I could remember, though, who were performing those symphonies. They are probably better in my memory than they would be in reality, but still...

If I had to guess....Dorati....on Decca or Mercury.  What years would that have been?

[Gurn Blanston]

If I had to guess....Dorati....on Decca or Mercury.  What years would that have been?

Well, late '50's / early '60's, certainly before '65. Not likely to be Märzendorfer, my father would have gone for an inexpensive but readily available performance. I can easily feature 1 of them, it was white with (in very large letters)
HAYDN SYMPHONIES
#100 'MILITARY'
'SURPRISE' #94

and little else on the cover. Maybe it was "The Little Symphony of London"...

[DavidW]

That warm analogue sound never leaves you.  Like a warm blanket around the mind.

I thought you were talking about pot for a second there!

[Gurn Blanston]

I thought you were talking about pot for a second there!

Haydnistos don't need drugs; we're high on music.   0:)

[Gurn Blanston]

Part 37

1788

This was a momentous (in retrospect) year for Europe. The last year before the French Revolution would threaten and eventually bring down L'Ancien Régime. In another 2 years, Prince Nikolaus the Magnificent would be dead, and so would Emperor Joseph II. Life as Haydn knew it was going to change tremendously. But for now, it was non-stop, full ahead, business as usual.

The popularity of the Paris Symphonies led to further commissions from Le Compte D'Ogny, and works for Paris in general. At that time, there was a large musical triangle superimposed on Europe, and its vertices were London/Paris/Vienna. Haydn was doing his best to extract full value from the three of them, along with every little old place in between. Some of this year's works ended up being carried to Paris by Haydn's friend and one-time Esterháza orchestra violinist Johann Tost. The quartets, now called Op 54 & 55 were actually a set of 6 that he broke up to maximize the return. Tost told Sieber in Paris that Haydn had dedicated there works to him, probably not true but they are still called the Tost Quartets I & II (while next year's Op 64 will become Tost Quartets III). Has anyone mentioned yet that Haydn was a sharp guy in business? My modern standards he would have been kneecapped along the way, but back then, in the days of no copyright, his practice of selling the same works to 2, 3 or 4 different publishers in the triangle was merely a way to get some return on them. Those same publishers would have bought a copy from the original publisher and published them as new for pure profit anyway, so this way Haydn got a piece of the action. I'm not going to linger on this issue, because I haven't the least moral reservation concerning it (as many do, since they can't divorce modern standards from totally different times). But given the times, I think he did a great job of avoiding getting screwed, which so many got done to them.

Now too, we first run across a new genre, the Notturno. Not that it doesn't match up conceptually with some early divertimentos, but these commissions from the King of Naples enabled Haydn to bring back the divertimento in a totally modernized form. I want to discuss these a bit more when we talk about the performances. A lot is going on here that can cause confusion in the ranks of the Haydnistos, but after researching it for quite some time, I may have it finally all figured out.

Two lovely keyboard trios, the beginnings of another set that will be completed next year. It is interesting to see how Haydn's trend towards concentration in the string quartets has carried over to the trios. Since they are now becoming the second largest chamber music genre in his oeuvre, those who haven't begun to explore these yet need to begin to consider it. The bunch from Hob 5 to 32 are some of the best chamber music of the time, matched only by his friend Mozart.

Which brings us back to Vienna for the winter.  Despite that one doesn't hear about it much, there is indisputable evidence that Haydn spent a lot of time with Mozart in the last half of the '780's. There is some documentation in Heartz and also in Geiringer, for example, that they sat and played the score of Così fan tutti on the piano together. Sitting on the divan with Constanze during all that would have been like being in the 4th Circle of Heaven...

The music of 1788;

Hob 01_090 Symphony #90 in C
   Tafelmusik / Bruno Weil
Hob 01_091 Symphony #91 in Eb
   La Petite Bande / Kuijken


Hob 02_25 Notturno #1 in C for Lyre organizzate, Strings & Winds (Naples Version)
Hob 02_26 Notturno #2 in F for Lyre organizzate, Strings & Winds (Naples Version)
Hob 02_29 Notturno #5 in C for Lyre organizzate, Strings & Winds (Naples Version)
Hob 02_30 Notturno #6 in G for Lyre organizzate, Strings & Winds (Naples Version)
Hob 02_31 Notturno #4 in C for Lyre organizzate, Strings & Winds (Naples Version)
Hob 02_32 Notturno #3 in C for Lyre organizzate, Strings & Winds (Naples Version)
   Consortium Classicum


Hob 03_57 Quartet in C for Strings Op 54 #2
Hob 03_58 Quartet in G for Strings Op 54 #1
Hob 03_59 Quartet in E for Strings Op 54 #3
Hob 03_60 Quartet in A for Strings Op 55 #1
Hob 03_61 Quartet in f for Strings Op 55 #2
Hob 03_62 Quartet in Bb for Strings Op 55 #3
   Quatuor Festetics


Hob 15_11 Trio in Eb for Piano & Strings   
Hob 15_12 Trio in e for Piano & Strings
   Trio 1790


Hob 17_02b Arietta & 12 Variations in A for Keyboard
   Ronald Brautigam


Hob 24b_13 Aria for Soprano "Chi vive amante, so che delira" for Erissena (Sop) in "Alessandro nell'Indie" by Bianchi
   L'Orfeo Baroque Orchestra / Gaigg   Nuria Rial


When we last looked at symphonies 88 & 89, there were just 3 PI choices available. Well, that situation remains for this group also (they are the same group, after all). My listening session ended up with Weil again, and Kuijken this time. I find it very difficult to choose among these three bands, they have a similar overall style (and a fine one it is), and they just don't make the sorts of tragic miscalculations that make it easy to say no to any of them. So if you already have any one set, I would personally stand pat with it. There are so many things to spend your hard-earned cash on aside from replacing excellent with excellent...

So let's talk about notturnos now. As you see, I have chosen Consortium Classicum with Dieter Klöcker for these six works. In re-reading the liner notes recently (and after a long time!), I noted a few items that seem different. To start, Klöcker (DK) cites a musical historian named Wolfgang von Karajan (1973) as saying that unlike a hurdy-gurdy, the lira had no strings, only a rank of small organ pipes. Wyn Jones (and most others) say, OTOH, that there is also a set of drone strings that are rubbed by the mechanism to produce a harmonic tone. For this reason, DK is quite content to use 2 small positive organs to replace the 2 lira. So it sounds different from the effort of the Ensemble Limoges who built a lira for their recording. That said, the remainder of the ensemble is very nicely done, as both Klöcker and Waldemar Wandel play clarinets in C instead of Bb, which, with their higher pitch, sound wonderful. And I have to say, just for my own taste, the 2 positive organs also sound great. If the Neapolitan ensemble of 1788 played these as well as the Consortium Classicum do, then the King must have been knocked out!

The other issue I have though is not so easily resolved except to say that probably since 1974, when this recording was made, and today, there have been a lot of discoveries made. DK does the first six of these. He says that he believes that the other 2 that exist now (in 1974, that is) in the London version must have been the result of a second commission perhaps. Wyn Jones says, however, that there were originally 9 of them, but only 8 survived (minus the finale of #6). Given that this is the sole recording of the Naples versions (plus the single recorded by Ensemble Limoges), we will have to be content to hear just the first six. Perhaps a day will come when a project of this magnitude is considered manageable, but for now, I am going to enjoy this disk as much as I have since I got it 6 years ago! 

Opera 54 & 55. Quite a change from Op 50. More in the style of the popular (French) Quatuor brillant. This set has the widest tonal range of any set; from 4 sharps (E major) to 4 flats (f minor). No other set compares to that. Additionally, there is a heavy accent on major tonalities. Even in the mandatory minor key work, the cadences are to major keys, and they predominate in the inside movements too. Speculation on this includes the possibility that we are possibly looking at the earliest series that was intended from the start for public performance. In any case, we are looking at some very pleasurable listening in these works. I not only like the Festetics in these, but I am delighted that I do, because I haven't been able to round up any others for comparison. I see the Salomon's have done them, but I can't find any for a reasonable price (or an unreasonable one, for that matter).

I am still sticking with my Trio 1790 for these works. By the time we get to London in a few years, I may offer you some alternatives (lord knows I have them!). But I think you will be pleased with these traversals of a pair of very nice trios.

Now we come to a different version of an earlier work. I'm sure you vividly recall that back in 1765 Haydn wrote an Arietta and 20 Variations in G for Harpsichord. It is Hob 17_2a. Well, he resurrected this work for publication this year, changing the key to A major and reducing the number of variations to 12. All in all, a tidier little package, and well-played here by Brautigam. I like Schornsheim's rendition too. And I note that Beghin eschews it.

Finally, we end up with yet another replacement aria, sung by the lovely and talented Ms. Rial. This one for Bianchi's "Alexander (the Great) in India". I am still searching for, and simultaneously hoping for aid in finding, a list of the operas played in Esterháza from 1776-1790. Curiosity compels me forward on this one. Maybe we will multiprocess it.

So, enjoy another great year. We move ever closer to the major changes of the next decade, but are quite content with the treasures of this one.

[kishnevi]

I'm a little confused about those Notturni.  The liner notes for the Huss/Haydn Sinfonietta Wien recording state rather clearly that the original versions written for Naples are lost, and all we actually have are the rewrites FJH did for London.  So where did these Naples versions come from?

Those liner notes, btw, describe the lira as having a set of sympathetic strings.

[Gurn Blanston]

I'm a little confused about those Notturni.  The liner notes for the Huss/Haydn Sinfonietta Wien recording state rather clearly that the original versions written for Naples are lost, and all we actually have are the rewrites FJH did for London.  So where did these Naples versions come from?

Those liner notes, btw, describe the lira as having a set of sympathetic strings.

In "Oxford Composer Companion to Haydn", Wyn-Jones is very clear about what is and isn't extant. Of the original Naples versions, there were 9, but only 8 survive, with only the finale of #6 (Hob 2:30) missing completely. He goes on to say that Haydn himself only rescored 5 of those for London, which are 3, 4 5, 7 & 8 (Hob II:27-29, 31 & 32). This is not to say, however, that someone else (at a later time) didn't rescore the balance of them in either direction. When we get to 1790-91 and start looking at them, I have all 8 extant ones scored in the London style (flute & oboe instead of 2 lira, 2 extra violins replacing the 2 clarinets plus a double bass to beef up the bass line).  DK says that only 6 survive in the Naples scoring, the other 2 only in the London scoring. I tend to believe this version, I think that Wyn-Jones was a bit unclear when he says "8 survive". I think he means a total of 8, but not all in the same scoring.

I will look at the Huss notes tomorrow, I'm curious what he means there. AFAIK, there has never been any doubt that the first 6 (- the last movement of #6) are in the original Naples scoring.

[Leon]

I recently got the Op. 17 SQ by the London Haydn Quartet :

[asin]B0025YZ82O[/asin]

I do not remember them being discussed here, or at least, I may have missed them being discussed - but these recordings seem to fall between the Mosaiques and Festetics in style.  I plan on looking for others in their series of Haydn SQ, and I'd be interested in hearing from others their impressions of the LHQ.

[Leo K.]

I recently got the Op. 17 SQ by the London Haydn Quartet :

[asin]B0025YZ82O[/asin]

I do not remember them being discussed here, or at least, I may have missed them being discussed - but these recordings seem to fall between the Mosaiques and Festetics in style.  I plan on looking for others in their series of Haydn SQ, and I'd be interested in hearing from others their impressions of the LHQ.

I have recently aquired the Op.9, 17 and 20 sets out by the London Haydn Quartet, and are now my favorite quartet accounts of Haydn. The realistic sound and detail of the timbre of the instruments are so organic and textured, and bring out the best in these works. Op.20 sounds totally new to me, it really is amazing!

[Leon]

I have recently aquired the Op.9, 17 and 20 sets out by the London Haydn Quartet, and are now my favorite quartet accounts of Haydn. The realistic sound and detail of the timbre of the instruments are so organic and textured, and bring out the best in these works. Op.20 sounds totally new to me, it really is amazing!

Yes, I agree with your comments and plan on acquiring more of their cycle.  Do you (or anyone) know if they have recorded the entire body of Haydn's quartets?