Haydn's Haus

[kishnevi]

The first question you have to face is how PI you want to be.
I have both the Fischer and Hogwood sets, but have yet to listen to a note of either one of them. (Hogwood I got from AmazonUK.) There's also Goodman/Hanover Band, which is not complete, and only avaliable as individual issues, some of which are probably now OOP.   But have you considered only starting with a subset, for instance the London Symphonies--for which I would suggest Solti and Minkowski for modern and period instruments, respectively

I have two PI sets of the piano works--Brautigam and Beghin, both of which I rate very highly--and no full set on modern piano, although I do have the series from Marc Andre Hamelin, which I like but which many people don't seem to like.

I have the Naxos concertos and masses boxes, and two definite thumbs up for them.  (You may note that my preferences run decidely to PI, but the Naxos sets are at best partially PI.)

String quartets--I have the Angeles Quartet cycle, which I like but some people don't.  I bought the Kodaly recording of the Op. 76 quartets early on in my collecting,  and was not impressed by them, but recently acquired some more CDs from that series, and liked them much better.    The Festetics are Gurn's favorite for PI, but not everyone's, and expensive.  The Quatour Mosaiques have released a good deal of Haydn, but far from complete,  and all of it is good.  Another PI series from the London Haydn Quartet has reached Op. 33--they're doing them in more or less order, and so far have done very well.

I hope all the above was at least a little helpful.

[George]

I have the Naxos concertos .... definite thumb up...

Seconded!

[kyjo]

Thanks for your helpful posts, guys! I should have mentioned in my first post that I prefer modern instrument performances to period instrument ones. I think I'll go with Dorati in the symphonies, Hamelin in the piano sonatas and the two Naxos boxes of the concerti and masses. I'm still deciding on the SQs, though. Has anyone heard the Aeolian Quartet's recordings?

[George]

Feedback would be greatly appreciated.

For that, I recommend Jimi Hendrix.

[Mirror Image]

I'm not a big Haydn fan (or any Classical era composer), but I do enjoy many of his works. Kyle, definitely give his violin concerti a listen sometime. Of the recent Haydn acquisitions I've made, that Harnoncourt set on Harmonia Mundi is fantastic.

I'm afraid I just don't have enough interest in Haydn to do much exploring sadly, but I do find his music brings a nice contrast to my normal listening.

[kyjo]

I'm not a big Haydn fan (or any Classical era composer), but I do enjoy many of his works. Kyle, definitely give his violin concerti a listen sometime. Of the recent Haydn acquisitions I've made, that Harnoncourt set on Harmonia Mundi is fantastic.

I'm afraid I just don't have enough interest in Haydn to do much exploring sadly, but I do find his music brings a nice contrast to my normal listening.

Classical era music isn't one of my specialities either, but I really enjoy Beethoven's music most of the time. The only Mozart I find myself willingly returning to are his late works, such as Symphonies 39-41, PCs 20-27 and the Requiem. I also get much enjoyment out of his opera overtures. Pretty much everything else by Mozart leaves me cold. I tried listening to his VCs lately and I was bored to tears by the majority of the music (though I liked individual movements such as the finales of nos. 1 and 5 and the first movement of no. 3).

I'm not thrilled about exploring Haydn, but I would like to get a bigger picture of him and hopefully gain more appreciation for his music. The only work of his that I've heard repeatedly and studied is his Cello Concerto no. 1, which I really like. I'll keep that Harnoncourt set of his VCs that you mentioned in mind, but I need a break from classical era VCs after dragging myself through Mozart's! I'm also considering this set:

[George]

I'm also considering this set:

Grab it!!! It's absolutely lovely! And modern instruments.

[mc ukrneal]

Thanks for your helpful posts, guys! I should have mentioned in my first post that I prefer modern instrument performances to period instrument ones. I think I'll go with Dorati in the symphonies, Hamelin in the piano sonatas and the two Naxos boxes of the concerti and masses. I'm still deciding on the SQs, though. Has anyone heard the Aeolian Quartet's recordings?

Can't help on that one (I think there is a thread just on the quartets somewhere), but I have the Angeles (also modern) and they are excellent. This one:
[asin]B007CW2FGG[/asin]

On the symphonies, I would tend to lean towards Fischer. He has the benefit of adopting more modern approaches to some of the movements (thinking here of the menuets) and is in excellent sound. I have doubled a number of symphonies over the years, and though I may find some are better than Fischer, his set (overall) is about as fine as one could wish. A couple things to consider as well: There is a mp3 version of the symphonies for roughly ~$25 on Amazon (where they have been reocrded to 8 CDs, which is what you would get). It could be a way to save money. They are also on the big Haydn box with 150 discs, and could be a better deal.

On the sonatas, I didn't love Hamelin. Jando on Naxos is good, but he does hum at times. I have always wanted to pick up the Brendel, but that can be a more expensive set (and is not complete).

The Naxos masses set, however, is fantastic. I believe it is mostly PI, and I generally prefer modern instrument, but it is so bright sounding and intense that it just doesn't matter. It is absolutely fantastic. It is some of my favorite Haydn (along with the trios by Trio Eisenstadt, cheaply availble for mp3 download if that is preferred to the discs, which are now OOP and rediculously expensive).

[mszczuj]

I'm afraid there is no entrance to Haydn metauniverse from the great boxes as they are the infinite labyrinths (only beginning with concertos is more useless).

I would rather recommend to start with some fine complete of London Symphonies and listen to them for the couple of months.

I would say that Minkowski set is really good, but it has one great disadvantage, there is no No. 94 in it (as he changes the text in the 2nd movement). So may be you should buy two sets of London Symphonies.

(I'm Beethoven aficionado who for decades couldn't find any sense in the listening to Mozart Violin Concertos)

[Opus106]

Of the recent Haydn acquisitions I've made, that Harnoncourt set on Harmonia Mundi is fantastic.

Deutsche Harmonia Mundi. They are two different labels, and NH hasn't recorded for HM.

I’m not thrilled about exploring Haydn, but I would like to get a bigger picture of him and hopefully gain more appreciation for his music.

If you're interested, you can go through these threads for some historical context.

[DavidW]

Thanks for your helpful posts, guys! I should have mentioned in my first post that I prefer modern instrument performances to period instrument ones. I think I'll go with Dorati in the symphonies, Hamelin in the piano sonatas and the two Naxos boxes of the concerti and masses. I'm still deciding on the SQs, though. Has anyone heard the Aeolian Quartet's recordings?

Please don't listen to Hamelin, in Haydn he is excruciatingly bad.  Please reconsider Buchbinder.  The Fischer cycle is very good and on modern instruments.

Since you said that you don't like period style, don't go with the Naxos box of masses (sorry that I missed that before).  I think you might want to think outside the box, if you go with just the major ones like the Creation and the Nelson mass you should find some good traditional performances from well known performers like Bernstein/NYPO, Karajan/BPO etc etc

I second the Angeles Q (I forgot that it was back in print), if the price is reasonable, and you listen on speakers and not headphones.

[George]

Please don't listen to Hamelin, in Haydn he is excruciatingly bad. 

I am no fan of Hamelin either.

I suggest the Brendel (incomplete) set.

[DavidW]

I'm afraid there is no entrance to Haydn metauniverse from the great boxes as they are the infinite labyrinths (only beginning with concertos is more useless).

I would rather recommend to start with some fine complete of London Symphonies and listen to them for the couple of months.

I agree.  I didn't start with big box sets, and really that is a place to turn to for the fanatics after they had been one over by a few well known works.  In that vein I recommend:

[asin]B0000027MF[/asin]

[asin]B00000IP5C[/asin]

[asin]B001U1LA2U[/asin]

[DavidW]

I am no fan of Hamelin either.

I suggest the Brendel (incomplete) set.

Yes that is a good one (Brendel).

[George]

Yes that is a good one (Brendel).

As is the Richter you recommend!

[Sergeant Rock]

I'm still deciding on the SQs, though. Has anyone heard the Aeolian Quartet's recordings?

Staying with just the modern A quartets  Angeles and Auryn are superior, both interpretively and sonically. Auryn's hasn't been boxed though. Buying individually will cost a bundle. I did it slowly over two years, piece by piece.

I like Kodaly too. Very civilized if not the last word in excitement.

Sarge

[Sergeant Rock]

Please reconsider Buchbinder.

Yes, please do reconsider. Buchbinder is marvelous, and relatively cheap.

Sarge

[Sergeant Rock]

I suggest the Brendel (incomplete) set.

Every Haydn collection needs Brendel. Even Gurn's 

Sarge

[Sergeant Rock]

Sarge and I subscribe to "News From The Shire".

And here's some breaking news from the Shire! The Hobbit Fey's new disc shipped today. I should have it Monday morning 


Sarge

[kyjo]

Please don't listen to Hamelin, in Haydn he is excruciatingly bad.  Please reconsider Buchbinder.  The Fischer cycle is very good and on modern instruments.

Since you said that you don't like period style, don't go with the Naxos box of masses (sorry that I missed that before).  I think you might want to think outside the box, if you go with just the major ones like the Creation and the Nelson mass you should find some good traditional performances from well known performers like Bernstein/NYPO, Karajan/BPO etc etc

I second the Angeles Q (I forgot that it was back in print), if the price is reasonable, and you listen on speakers and not headphones.

Thanks, David. I generally like Hamelin's playing, but I'll keep your opinion in mind. What do you guys think of these performances of Haydn's masses and oratorios?