Haydn's Haus

[Gurn Blanston]

And on the principle that even "Homer nods" ,  even the Maven of Mavens, the Haydnisto of Haydnistos did not catch it (see reply 6075)

Nah, I was paying much closer attention to the first disk on the list. It's true though, when I see Clock, I read '101' no matter what's really there...

[Karl Henning]

(* chortle *)

[SonicMan46]

Hey, Dave,
Well I can understand not going for Romantic Grand Opera, I find it to be a bit OTT myself! Haydn's operas, and Classical operas in the Gluckian tradition in general, tend to be lighter fare. Haydn's Prince, by all accounts, was partial to long recitatives, and so there is a lot of that, but if you aren't doing it to follow the plot, you can just listen to the arias and duettos and it is highly satisfactory. That's why I was thinking that this one would find favor with you;

[asin]B002YC22IK[/asin]

Haydn had a tremendous skill for writing arias. Even I like them, and I wouldn't touch a cantata...

Gurn - OK, you've convinced me!    Now, I have SO MUCH Haydn (and greatly enjoy his masses), so will add the set you recommend (will go in my Amazon cart today!) - but don't get me into trying his songs -    Thanks for the 'thumbs up' - Dave

[Gurn Blanston]

Gurn - OK, you've convinced me!    Now, I have SO MUCH Haydn (and greatly enjoy his masses), so will add the set you recommend (will go in my Amazon cart today!) - but don't get me into trying his songs -    Thanks for the 'thumbs up' - Dave

  OK, no songs. Although if you change your mind, come see me.

[Karl Henning]

"Got a little song here that Haydn learnt in prison . . . ."

[Gurn Blanston]

"Got a little song here that Haydn learnt in prison . . . ."

I hear the train a'comin'
it's rollin' 'round the bend
and I ain't seen the sunshine since
I don't know when....

[Gurn Blanston]

This beauty arrived today. My girlfriend and I are enjoying Op. 20.

Very cool, George! That's what they should have dine with it to start with instead of 2 boxes. Does it still have jewel boxes in it so it is now 9" wide? 

[Gurn Blanston]

No jewel boxes, tastefully colored and designed cardboard sleeves (with enough room to easily slide discs out), 100 page booklet.

Ah, excellent packaging choice! They even combined both (all) booklets into one. Naive is such a good label! The only screwup they aver made, IMO, other than letting things go out of print so much, was to publish all their box sets with each disk in its own jewel box. How much shelf space do they think I have?  And now that is fixed. The perfect label?  Hmmm... 

[Brian]

The perfect label?

Alpha's gotta be in the running there! Or Alia Vox... only 20 pages of the booklet may be in English, but holding a 300 page book in your hands knowing they sent it to you with your CD is pretty cool.

[Gurn Blanston]

Alpha's gotta be in the running there! Or Alia Vox... only 20 pages of the booklet may be in English, but holding a 300 page book in your hands knowing they sent it to you with your CD is pretty cool.

Yeah, Alia Vox is the Cadillac of booklets. The one that comes with Savall's "Seven Last Words" is over 100 pages all in its own! 

[Gurn Blanston]

An awesome label! Did I mention that my box was only $45.96 shipped?  0:)

No, that's awesome! I paid ~$35 each for the two boxes I have, and that was awesome at the time (they were going for $45 and up). The singles would have cost me hundreds though, since they were all OOP, so the vultures were working them pretty hard.  

Good on ya! 

[TheGSMoeller]

This beauty arrived today. My girlfriend and I are enjoying Op. 20.

Bravo, George!
Maybe this will lower the cost for their Op. 64 and 76, I only need those and would almost be spending the same for those two as I would for this set.

[TheGSMoeller]

If that's the case, why not just get the set? I ran into a similar situation with the Rubinstein Complete Album set. Finally, I just bit the bullet and bought the box.

Good point. Could always sell or give my individual discs away. Plus that artwork on the box set's cover is gorgeous.

[mc ukrneal]

The perfect label?

Opera Rara. Outstanding booklets. Interesting essays. Great pictures. High quality all around.

[SonicMan46]

An awesome label! Did I mention that my box was only $45.96 shipped?  0:)

No, that's awesome! I paid ~$35 each for the two boxes I have, and that was awesome at the time (they were going for $45 and up). The singles would have cost me hundreds though, since they were all OOP, so the vultures were working them pretty hard.  

Hi George - where did you purchased the box?  MDT across the pond has it for $38.50 - NOW, like Gurn, I already own the two 5 CD jewel box sets - probably could get $20 or so selling them to Princeton Record Exchange, SO is $20 worth saving the space?  Hmmm - Dave

[Brahmsian]

This beauty arrived today. My girlfriend and I are enjoying Op. 20.

Is the Quatuor Mosaiques a period instrument or modern instrument string quartet set? 

I keep hearing praise for QM's Haydn cycle.

[Gurn Blanston]

Is the Quatuor Mosaiques a period instrument or modern instrument string quartet set? 

I keep hearing praise for QM's Haydn cycle.

QM is about as PI as you can get. They made a movie about them last year called Life of PI... 

[Brahmsian]

QM is about as PI as you can get. They made a movie about them last year called Life of PI... 

  OK, thanks Gurn! 

[North Star]

I've now heard their Op. 20 for the first time. The recorded sound and the performances are beautiful and soothing, but overall it seems too soothing and lacking in excitement. Is it just me or does this group tend interpret Haydn in this manner?

I've only heard (& own) the latter half of the previous boxes, but yes, I suppose one could say that. I don't have any quarrel with their approach, though.

[Gurn Blanston]

I've now heard their Op. 20 for the first time. The recorded sound and the performances are beautiful and soothing, but overall it seems too soothing and lacking in excitement. Is it just me or does this group tend interpret Haydn in this manner?

Well, you are down to the root of the matter already. There has been some lively discussion about this topic in the past. You will find that most of the people who prefer the Festetics do so because they are just plain rowdier. I think the QM are virtually perfect, but I don't think perfect is the only possible outcome. The earlier opera (9 & 17) by the London Haydn Quartet are like that too. It comes down to what you are looking for. I think Haydn's personality would find rowdiness to be just right for him. I may be wrong, however.