Haydn's Haus

[Sergeant Rock]

about Fey's Haydn, I wasn't impressed by it: nothing wrong with it, but just another batch of Haydn symphonies played by a modern orchestra.

I don't know which CD you heard that invoked such a meh response! It surprises me. Fey's interpretations are unusual, unique: brilliant, intense, fiery, even, at times, over the top. Fey and band polarize opinion. Love 'em or hate 'em seems to be the case here. They aren't a modern instrument orchestra, by the way, but rather a hybrid: modern strings and woodwinds, period brass.

Sarge

[Gurn Blanston]

I don't know which CD you heard that invoked such a meh response! It surprises me. Fey's interpretations are unusual, unique: brilliant, intense, fiery, even, at times, over the top. Fey and band polarize opinion. Love 'em or hate 'em seems to be the case here. They aren't a modern instrument orchestra, by the way, but rather a hybrid: modern strings and woodwinds, period brass.

Sarge

I have to say, I liked Fey, the first 5 disks that I have anyway, are pretty much ass-kicking. I am just hoping that I will be able to grab off a box of them one day, I really hate pursuing long series of single disks.   

[Karl Henning]

I don't know which CD you heard that invoked such a meh response! It surprises me.

Not to pile on, Jeffrey, but, erm: me, too.

Separately (I think) . . . as few complete symphony sets as there are for Haydn (in a world with 82,131 complete LvB symphony sets, and counting), one applauds Dennis Russell Davies for completing [even] an MI set.

It's not really practical (I fear) to take the apparently equable "couldn't we have one complete PI set per complete MI set? Or even one complete PI set per two complete MI sets?" view. The (historical) Doráti set and the Dennis Russell Davies set are both with established orchestras who have a sphere of activities larger than (even) a complete Haydn symphony set.  Where a PI outfit is, almost by definition, an ad hoc organization, which may not possess an existence apart from the director.

[Wakefield]

Maybe not, and I take your point(s) - but to see praise heaped on yet another MI complete set while there is yet no complete PI set, sometimes, has the effect of rubbing salt into the wound.

I'd also like a complete set on period instruments, but I see it more difficult every day. 

BTW, I have uploaded one movement by D.R. Davies and his gang... no offense intended: 

http://www.goear.com/listen/0f19cb9/symphony-37-haydn

[Karl Henning]

I have to say, I liked Fey, the first 5 disks that I have anyway, are pretty much ass-kicking. I am just hoping that I will be able to grab off a box of them one day, I really hate pursuing long series of single disks.   

Aye;  I very much enjoy the 3-4 singletons I've reeled in, but . . . in optimism, I shall wait out a box at the last.

[Opus106]

It's not really practical (I fear) to take the apparently equable “couldn't we have one complete PI set per complete MI set? Or even one complete PI set per two complete MI sets?” view. The (historical) Doráti set and the Dennis Russell Davies set are both with established orchestras who have a sphere of activities larger than (even) a complete Haydn symphony set.  Where a PI outfit is, almost by definition, an ad hoc organization, which may not possess an existence apart from the director.

A determined man and his musical team (orchestra, chorus, singers and recording engineers) managed to perform and record more Bach cantatas, nearly double the number of Haydn symphonies in a single year -- and this included long-distance travel. I can't see why an equally determined conductor cannot accomplish something similar with Haydn's symphonies in, say, even over a 10-year period, without having to face the various sources of pressure and constraint (live performance, keeping up with the liturgical calendar, the logistics of transport and travel etc.) that Gardiner did. Maybe there are more funds available for Bach than for Haydn.

[Karl Henning]

. . . Maybe there are more funds available for Bach than for Haydn.

Probably true.

Mind you, dear chap, I suggested impracticality, not impossibility.

[Opus106]

Mind you, dear chap, I suggested impracticality, not impossibility.

And all I'm trying to say is, it probably isn't even that bad, given your comment about a PI band.

[Brian]

Just to chime in briefly -

1. I'm very glad to see the Haydn Blog stickied.

2. I've only heard perhaps six symphonies from Fey's cycle, on NML, but they have all been precisely to my taste. I really ought to be listening to all of them!

[Bogey]

Unleashing Symphony No. 2 (37).  Only about 10 minutes here, but a delightful opening.  The second movement sounds barely symphonic.  Kind of a "cooling" feel to it.  Reminds me almost of a soundtrack cue or the second movement of Tchaikovsky's Serenade for Strings at points.  The third brings it back, but not with a kick.  These last two movements definitely have a gentle "rollingness" about them that I am enjoying.

[mahler10th]

I am listening to his Symphony 28 again.  It's first movement is a real delicacy, light yet thoughtful.  Even so, it is telling a new, unheard story in the realms of symphonic works.  There is so much more to Haydn than meets the ear.  The first movement is a quiet, open dialogue, and it invites us to very much take part.   

[Gurn Blanston]

Unleashing Symphony No. 2 (37).  Only about 10 minutes here, but a delightful opening.  The second movement sounds barely symphonic.  Kind of a "cooling" feel to it.  Reminds me almost of a soundtrack cue or the second movement of Tchaikovsky's Serenade for Strings at points.  The third brings it back, but not with a kick.  These last two movements definitely have a gentle "rollingness" about them that I am enjoying.

I am listening to his Symphony 28 again.  It's first movement is a real delicacy, light yet thoughtful.  Even so, it is telling a new, unheard story in the realms of symphonic works.  There is so much more to Haydn than meets the ear.  The first movement is a quiet, open dialogue, and it invites us to very much take part.   

I'm so delighted to see you guys listening to things you maybe hadn't before and enjoying them. Sometimes the sheer quantity of works blocks out the individual merit of any particular one (I know, it happens to me!). But to take the time to listen is very rewarding.

[Wakefield]

Unleashing Symphony No. 2 (37).  Only about 10 minutes here, but a delightful opening.  The second movement sounds barely symphonic.  Kind of a "cooling" feel to it.  Reminds me almost of a soundtrack cue or the second movement of Tchaikovsky's Serenade for Strings at points.  The third brings it back, but not with a kick.  These last two movements definitely have a gentle "rollingness" about them that I am enjoying.

Nice description, Bogey. Coincidentally, yesterday I posted a link of the first movement of this symphony. I think it could be suitable to your taste.

Talking about movements sounding "barely symphonic", few days ago I had a good time listening to the beautiful second movement (Adagio Cantabile) of Symphony No. 13, which really seems a movement for a cello concerto. 

[Opus106]

Talking about movements sounding "barely symphonic", few days ago I had a good time listening to the beautiful second movement (Adagio Cantabile) of Symphony No. 13, which really seems a movement for a cello concerto.   

I always feel something similar with early (middle?) Classical symphonies: once the orchestra has played the main theme, involuntarily I expect the entrance of a non-existent soloist.

[Wakefield]

I am listening to his Symphony 28 again.  It's first movement is a real delicacy, light yet thoughtful.  Even so, it is telling a new, unheard story in the realms of symphonic works.  There is so much more to Haydn than meets the ear.  The first movement is a quiet, open dialogue, and it invites us to very much take part.   

This description - like the previous one - is an invitation to a new listening. Thanks.

[Wakefield]

I always feel something similar with early (middle?) Classical symphonies: once the orchestra has played the main theme, involuntarily I expect the entrance of a non-existent soloist.

Yes! Totally true. However, after Beethoven and perhaps after his Third Symphony, if you want, that imaginary soloist wasn't possible anymore.

[Gurn Blanston]

I always feel something similar with early (middle?) Classical symphonies: once the orchestra has played the main theme, involuntarily I expect the entrance of a non-existent soloist.

Further proof, if any is needed, that the German Classical symphony arose from the concerto grosso rather than the Italian sinfonia. It may be counter-intuitive, but although the debate has gone on for years, I think that this feeling on listening speaks louder than the written word.

[Opus106]

Further proof, if any is needed, that the German Classical symphony arose from the concerto grosso rather than the Italian sinfonia. It may be counter-intuitive, but although the debate has gone on for years, I think that this feeling on listening speaks louder than the written word.

Well, that settles it, then.

[Karl Henning]

Nav settles it!

[Wakefield]

Further proof, if any is needed, that the German Classical symphony arose from the concerto grosso rather than the Italian sinfonia. It may be counter-intuitive, but although the debate has gone on for years, I think that this feeling on listening speaks louder than the written word.

Yes, but only at a very slight extent, IMO, because the soloist as a figure "opposed" to the orchestra, playing "against" the orchestral mass, it's not a Baroque notion, but a Romantic idea. That's the reason why I think this thought works better out in retrospective terms: from Beethoven towards back.