Haydn's Haus

[Karl Henning]

Thanks, that's just my aim! I try to find things you haven't read in liner notes.

Speaking of liner notes . . . I was reading them for the Amadeus Quartet's recording of the Op.51, O Gurn.  Have you written/mused upon the outsourced piano arrangement of the Seven Last Words?  TIA!

[Gurn Blanston]

Speaking of liner notes . . . I was reading them for the Amadeus Quartet's recording of the Op.51, O Gurn.  Have you written/mused upon the outsourced piano arrangement of the Seven Last Words?  TIA!

Run up the column to reply 8212, Karl. There really isn't a lot more to say about it than it is what it is. Mandrake brought it up the other day. I ordered the Immerseel disk after Pat mentioned it last night. Interested to hear what he has to 'say' about it.



PS - The dadgum Type-Pad blogging website is down again. They haven't been down in years, and now this is the third time in 4 days! I suspect the gremlins are at work here... 

[Karl Henning]

Thanks! I understand that in many cases, there's only so much we know . . . .

[Karl Henning]

This is the first time I've heard the keyboard version [of The Seven Last Words] ... This is on spotify (where it's wrongly tagged Vernon Handley)

That is amusing!

[Gurn Blanston]

Thanks! I understand that in many cases, there's only so much we know . . . .

And we only know this much because a letter he wrote to Artaria survived in their archives. Making piano reductions wasn't big business for composers back then, but publishers were crazy about it and hired people who specialized in it, paying them a pittance and pocketing a huge chunk of business for themselves. I would wager Haydn got no more than a few florins for the rights, if that! 

[Gurn Blanston]

That is amusing!

Indeed. That's a vaguely familiar name; doesn't he play the organ? 

[Pat B]

Run up the column to reply 8212, Karl. There really isn't a lot more to say about it than it is what it is. Mandrake brought it up the other day. I ordered the Immerseel disk after Pat mentioned it last night. Interested to hear what he has to 'say' about it.



PS - The dadgum Type-Pad blogging website is down again. They haven't been down in years, and now this is the third time in 4 days! I suspect the gremlins are at work here... 

So, what were the seven last words of Gurn on the typepad?

[Gurn Blanston]

So, what were the seven last words of Gurn on the typepad?

I think it was:

See you next time, thanks for reading!

Unless I miss my guess.

[Gurn Blanston]

PS - The dadgum Type-Pad blogging website is down again. They haven't been down in years, and now this is the third time in 4 days! I suspect the gremlins are at work here... 

I just heard from them; they have been undergoing a denial of service attack since last Thursday night; 20gb of hits per minute. They are being blackmailed to pay a large sum of money for it to stop. I guess this is the result of being successful. Probably all the money they make off HaydnSeek... 

[Karl Henning]

Enjoying Ton Koopman playing the organ concerti.

[torut]

May I ask for a recommendation for Haydn string quartets recordings? I have a set of Haydn string quartets by Buchberger Quartet contained in Brilliant Classics Haydn Edition. As you know, it is not a complete set, and I am looking for recordings of the missing quartets. Since I liked Buchberger's recordings very much for its clear and vivid playing, I have no problem with purchasing their individual CDs (and I will eventually do so), I would like to check other quartets (especially HIP that I don't have) for this opprtunity.
Are there good HIP/period quartets who recorded Op. 50 (at least Nos 4-6) and Op. 54 (at least Nos 1-3)?
I have Quatuor Mosaiques's Op. 76, and like it a lot, but I believe they have not recorded Op. 50 or Op. 54.
By reading this thread, Quatuor Festetics seems good, but their recordings are difficult to obtain.
I don't see Salomon Quartet so much here (sorry if I missed), and there is almost no review at Amazon. Is Salomon's Op. 50 & 54 good?

As you may have noted in my survey (1787), the only PI recordings of Op 50 are Festetics and Salomon. And the occasional single like the Schuppanzigh's doing #6. Even in the MI realm, unless and entire cycle is being undertaken, Op 50 gets short shrift. I believe that it is for a couple of reasons; it is known to be a difficult bite to chew for the average listener. In the language of those times, it is for Kenner rather than Liebhaber. And then, it falls between some major brethren, the immensely popular and symbolic Op 33 and the also very popular Op 64. Note that in terms of recording history its immediate neighbor, Op 54/55 gets much the same treatment, also undeservedly so. For me, the period of these composition, say, 1785 to 89, is also home to my favorite Haydn works by far. And the string quartets of those years are no exception in any way.

Is this still true regarding Op. 50 & 54?

[DavidW]

Festetics Q Op 50 is currently in stock at arkivmusic.

[Gurn Blanston]

May I ask for a recommendation for Haydn string quartets recordings? I have a set of Haydn string quartets by Buchberger Quartet contained in Brilliant Classics Haydn Edition. As you know, it is not a complete set, and I am looking for recordings of the missing quartets. Since I liked Buchberger's recordings very much for its clear and vivid playing, I have no problem with purchasing their individual CDs (and I will eventually do so), I would like to check other quartets (especially HIP that I don't have) for this opprtunity.
Are there good HIP/period quartets who recorded Op. 50 (at least Nos 4-6) and Op. 54 (at least Nos 1-3)?
I have Quatuor Mosaiques's Op. 76, and like it a lot, but I believe they have not recorded Op. 50 or Op. 54.
By reading this thread, Quatuor Festetics seems good, but their recordings are difficult to obtain.
I don't see Salomon Quartet so much here (sorry if I missed), and there is almost no review at Amazon. Is Salomon's Op. 50 & 54 good?
Is this still true regarding Op. 50 & 54?

I can only offer my opinions, with which many disagree. As DavidW says, Festetics Op 50 is currently available, which simplifies things very much. Salomon is still the only alternative PI recording. It may well be that London Haydn Quartet will release their Op 50 this year, it is the next one in the series which they appear to be recording chronologically.

As for the ones available, my personal preference is the Salomon's. You will likely have to be content with a used pair of disks unless you are aware of some source for new ones. On the other hand, used Op 50 were possibly the most available of the entire set, so that is good. I saw one on eBay just last week (disk 2). In my opinion, Op 50 is the weakest of the Festetics efforts. However, their Op 54/55 is very good, and if you can run across a set you would likely be pleased with it. You can find all of the Festetics boxes if you are persistent. Things change over time, and probably when I wrote that originally they were very scarce, but lately there have been quite a few available.

If the Buchberger's are your current reference point, I think you will find almost any their version to be rather on the slow side, since they are the fastest I've heard in virtually every quartet.

You are correct about Mosaiques. They have done only these: 20, 33, 51, 64, 76, 77 & 103 (which they rightly call Op 77 #3). Chances are slim they will ever do the remaining ones, sad to say.

Cheers,

[Dancing Divertimentian]

Is this still true regarding Op. 50 & 54?

Recordings of Op.50 & 54 may not be plentiful (don't know actual numbers) but I enjoy these:

(Actually only one-half of Op.50...why won't they record the other half??):



[asin]B002PP112O[/asin]


And two great Op.54's:



[asin]B0000AN0TR[/asin]

[asin]B00000632D[/asin]

[torut]

Festetics Q Op 50 is currently in stock at arkivmusic.

I can only offer my opinions, with which many disagree. As DavidW says, Festetics Op 50 is currently available, which simplifies things very much. Salomon is still the only alternative PI recording. It may well be that London Haydn Quartet will release their Op 50 this year, it is the next one in the series which they appear to be recording chronologically.

As for the ones available, my personal preference is the Salomon's. You will likely have to be content with a used pair of disks unless you are aware of some source for new ones. On the other hand, used Op 50 were possibly the most available of the entire set, so that is good. I saw one on eBay just last week (disk 2). In my opinion, Op 50 is the weakest of the Festetics efforts. However, their Op 54/55 is very good, and if you can run across a set you would likely be pleased with it. You can find all of the Festetics boxes if you are persistent. Things change over time, and probably when I wrote that originally they were very scarce, but lately there have been quite a few available.

If the Buchberger's are your current reference point, I think you will find almost any their version to be rather on the slow side, since they are the fastest I've heard in virtually every quartet.

You are correct about Mosaiques. They have done only these: 20, 33, 51, 64, 76, 77 & 103 (which they rightly call Op 77 #3). Chances are slim they will ever do the remaining ones, sad to say.

Cheers,

Thank you very much, DavidW and Gurn!
Aren't CDs at ArkivMusic actually CD-R? (I have not used the shop before.)
http://www.hyperion-records.co.uk sells mp3 & CD-R of Salomon discs. I'll try Salomon first.

[Dancing Divertimentian]

Aren't CDs at ArkivMusic actually CD-R? (I have not used the shop before.)

Nope. They're an online shop like any other which just happens to have licensing agreements with several record companies to issue CD-Rs.

[torut]

Recordings of Op.50 & 54 may not be plentiful (don't know actual numbers) but I enjoy these:

(Actually only one-half of Op.50...why won't they record the other half??):



[asin]B002PP112O[/asin]


And two great Op.54's:



[asin]B0000AN0TR[/asin]

[asin]B00000632D[/asin]

Thank you for your recommendation, Dancing Divertimentian.
Are they non-HIP using modern instruments? I am not a HIP/period maniac (I love Buchberger and Mosaiques who use modern instruments although Mosaiques uses gut strings), just would like to know.

[torut]

Nope. They're an online shop like any other which just happens to have licensing agreements with several record companies to issue CD-Rs.

Thank you. I checked the web site, and the reissue CDRs are called "ArkivCD". The Festetics discs are labeled as just "CD", so they seem to be press-CDs.

[Dancing Divertimentian]

Thank you for your recommendation, Dancing Divertimentian.
Are they non-HIP using modern instruments? I am not a HIP/period maniac (I love Buchberger and Mosaiques who use modern instruments although Mosaiques uses gut strings), just would like to know.

These are all non-HIP. Totally modern instruments. But I also love the Mosaiques and these are definitely comparable.

[torut]

These are all non-HIP. Totally modern instruments. But I also love the Mosaiques and these are definitely comparable.

I see, thank you. Mosaiques is very nice. I have their Beethoven Op. 18 No. 2 & 3 and love it so much.
The other Haydn SQs I have are Kodaly (Op. 76 No. 2, 3, & 4; old Naxos disc), L'Archibudelli (Op. 77 & 103), and Griller SQ (Op. 71 & 74). All are nice, but I prefer Buchberger, Mosaiques and L'Archibudelli.