Haydn's Haus

[Gurn Blanston]

Talking about departure, two days ago I ordered the set of symphonies conducted by Brüggen.

For some reason, it only seems to be available on the German store JPC.

Currently its price is EUR 25.20 (VAT excluded), a certain relief in order to compensate the high shipping rates outside Europe.

Right after Hogwood's death, I posted something about it must be time for a re-release of the Haydn symphonies (which came the next day!) and someone else posted that this same Brüggen set had just been released. Of course, I have all of it already, but it took me far longer to round it up and cost a lot more than €25   

It would be neat to have it in one package that way, but unless it becomes easier than buying from jpc, I will stick with what I have, I think.

[Wakefield]

Gordo, you know how when non-PI people post that the PI performance sounds flat to them? We sort of laugh a little bit and maybe not know exactly what they are talking about, maybe it's the drugs....

Well, I have never heard the Nikolaimesse on anything but PI, and I now listen to this and everything sounds very sharp to me, especially the Knabenchor. It is exactly the same effect only in reverse! They are doing well, but it sounds ... not well to me! 

Well, exactly what I think. I never understood when some people say that PI sound sharp compared to MI.

Is it a children chorus, isn't it?

[Gurn Blanston]

Well, exactly what I think. I never understood when some people say that PI sound sharp compared to MI.

Is it a children chorus, isn't it?

Domsingknaben = Boys Choir  Knabe is the root of English 'knave', although then it meant boy, not rogue!   

At least I think all this to be true.

PI sounds sharp is so totally illogical! 

[Wakefield]

Domsingknaben = Boys Choir  Knabe is the root of English 'knave', although then it meant boy, not rogue!   

At least I think all this to be true.

PI sounds sharp is so totally illogical! 

I guess Sarge won't agree, but this kind of choir is a nice touch. The masses conducted by Simon Preston are a good example.

[kishnevi]

And today I received my copy:



If you know Il Giardino's Vivaldi, then you have certain expectations for their Haydn. Not least, exuberance. And that is here, along with the certain je ne sais quoi which separates good performance from inspired. Listen to the 2nd movement Allegro molto of #49 and you can sense the biting anticipation of each musician waiting for the chance to get his word in. The only thing I haven't listened to yet is the Gluck, not out of any reticence, but because I have never heard any of the ballet before, and so I can't mentally compare it to anything in my experience, while the 3 symphonies, 1, 39 & 49 are all close personal friends. I am fully prepared to love this set, if I live long enough to see it all. I should be able to buy the final disk on my 80th birthday if all goes well. 

My copy landed today and verily playeth in mine player even now. 
I do have a question.  Those photographs at the front are excellent, but what is their connection to the music?

[Gurn Blanston]

I guess Sarge won't agree, but this kind of choir is a nice touch. The masses conducted by Simon Preston are a good example.

Agreed, very nice. The Tafelmusik disks of Mozart and Haydn using the Tolzer Knabenchor are excellent too. And the Raimund Hug Freiburger Domsingknaben yet another. I like the sound, at least when used at A = 415.... 

[Gurn Blanston]

My copy landed today and verily playeth in mine player even now. 
I do have a question.  Those photographs at the front are excellent, but what is their connection to the music?

I'm thinking Rorschach...    Anyway, what is your first impression?

[Gurn Blanston]

HAYDN 2032 - Volume 1 "La Passione" with Giovanni Antonini & Il Giardino Armonico:

http://vimeo.com/105021775

Is it the same as this one?

http://www.good-music-guide.com/community/index.php/topic,54.msg845380.html#msg845380

[kishnevi]

I'm thinking Rorschach...    Anyway, what is your first impression?

Makes me look forward to the rest of their cycle.  God willing I live long enough!

[Gurn Blanston]

Makes me look forward to the rest of their cycle.  God willing I live long enough!

We are agreed then: we shall make a pact to see it through!   

[Gurn Blanston]

I didn't see it had been posted before... Using the Occam's razor I will immediately delete it. 

No matter, it is a nice little blurb for those on the fence. It is interesting to hear Antonini's thoughts on the matter. While you are looking at videos, the one I asked Karl to post for me of the St. Lawrence SQ dissecting the meat of Op 76 #3 is a highly interesting exposition for the non-musician. I was quite taken.

[Wakefield]

No matter, it is a nice little blurb for those on the fence. It is interesting to hear Antonini's thoughts on the matter. While you are looking at videos, the one I asked Karl to post for me of the St. Lawrence SQ dissecting the meat of Op 76 #3 is a highly interesting exposition for the non-musician. I was quite taken.

Very interesting, indeed.

BTW, these days I have fought strongly to avoid purchasing of the complete set by Los Angeles String Quartet, the only complete set that I don't have. Some months ago I even completed the incomplete set by The Salomon String Quartet. I'm so proud of me. 

[Gurn Blanston]

Very interesting, indeed.

BTW, these days I have fought strongly to avoid purchasing of the complete set by Los Angeles String Quartet, the only complete set that I don't have. Some months ago I even completed the incomplete set by The Salomon String Quartet. I'm so proud of me. 

  I have the Salomon set also, in many parts it is brilliant, in some, less so. I am pleased to have it though. I don't have much on MI, the only complete set is the Kodaly. Lots of singles here and there though. No temptation for the Angeles....

[Wakefield]

  I have the Salomon set also, in many parts it is brilliant, in some, less so. I am pleased to have it though. I don't have much on MI, the only complete set is the Kodaly. Lots of singles here and there though. No temptation for the Angeles....

I confess my temptation is pure completism. For instance, I doubt I will listen to the Aeolian again, but it's there on the shelves and it gives me some mental relief. 

I think I currently have every disk of string quartets recorded on PI and, no doubt, among them are my favorites, but I think quite highly about the Tátrai and the Kodály.     

 

[Gurn Blanston]

I confess my temptation is pure completism. For instance, I doubt I will listen to the Aeolian again, but it's there on the shelves and it gives me some mental relief. 

I think I currently have every disk of string quartets recorded on PI and, no doubt, among them are my favorites, but I think quite highly about the Tátrai and the Kodály.     

I like the Kodaly too. It was my first set, the first time I heard any except Op 76 (where I still have the brilliant Carmina pair).

Hard to believe you have every PI SQ. Even I don't say that, and I have a pisspot full. Do you even have this one?



Thousands don't. I have every one I know about, I will say that. I still look all the time to see if something new comes along.

[kishnevi]

I like the Kodaly too. It was my first set, the first time I heard any except Op 76 (where I still have the brilliant Carmina pair).

Hard to believe you have every PI SQ. Even I don't say that, and I have a pisspot full. Do you even have this one?



Thousands don't. I have every one I know about, I will say that. I still look all the time to see if something new comes along.

The Fitzwilliams did PI?
I have their DSCH cycle.

[Wakefield]

I like the Kodaly too. It was my first set, the first time I heard any except Op 76 (where I still have the brilliant Carmina pair).

Hard to believe you have every PI SQ. Even I don't say that, and I have a pisspot full. Do you even have this one?



Thousands don't. I have every one I know about, I will say that. I still look all the time to see if something new comes along.

Good job, sir. You have ruined my night... I don't have that.    

I didn't even know its existence.

The Book of Genesis is right: knowledge is man's perdition. It would be great being as St. Francis of Assisi, who said I want very few things and those few things I want, I don't want them greatly. 

[Wakefield]

The Fitzwilliams did PI?
I have their DSCH cycle.

Composés par Mr. Hayden
Haydn:
Cassation in C major, Hob.III:6
String Quartet, Op. 71 No. 2 in D major
String Quartet, Op. 77 No. 2 in F major
Fitzwilliam Quartet

On March 2nd 1969 the Fitzwilliam String Quartet made its first ever public appearance – for Fitzwilliam College Music Society in Cambridge (hence its name). By a happy coincidence the forty-year milestone for the FSQ also coincided with the 200th anniversary of arguably the greatest of all composers for string quartet, Franz Joseph Haydn (1732–1809). This man's reputation has for too long suffered beyond the horizons he himself broadened; his achievements have too often been eclipsed by those of his successors. It was only natural that, as one of the great innovators, he should create not just a magnificent treasury of music himself but also limitless possibilities on which others might build. While he may never equal the popular appeal of his young friend Mozart, 2009 went some considerable way towards reminding us of his towering presence in our musical history and heritage. The music speaks for itself, but the mission of the performers must be the responsibility of presenting it in the best possible light.

The Fitzwilliam Quartet were heavily involved with Haydn during his anniversary year, but the present performances were recorded many years earlier, at a public concert on 1st February 2001 at Royal Holloway College. At that time the quartet's personnel was in transition, but happily this recording captures Jonathan Cohen's brief sojourn as cellist. Period instruments were used, and there were no retakes or edits at all. The selection of works literally spans the beginning and end of Haydn's career as a quartet composer, from his earliest set of Divertimenti a quattro to what might be considered one of the greatest string quartets of all time, and framing one of the first quartets ever written specifically for public performance.

Founded in 1968 by four Cambridge undergraduates, the Fitzwilliam Quartet first became well known through its close personal association with Dmitri Shostakovich, who befriended them following a visit to York to hear them play. He entrusted them with the Western premières of his last three quartets, and before long they had become the first ever group to perform and record all fifteen. These recordings, which gained many international awards, secured for them a world wide concert schedule, and a long term contract with Decca/London which embraced some byways of late Romantic repertoire (including Franck, Delius, Borodin, and Sibelius) before they embarked on a Beethoven cycle. Indeed, the Shostakovich set was included in Gramophone magazine's "Hundred Greatest-ever Recordings" in November 2005.

[Gurn Blanston]

Good job, sir. You have ruined my night... I don't have that.    

I didn't even know its existence.

The Book of Genesis is right: knowledge is man's perdition. It would be great being as St. Francis of Assisi, who said I want very few things and those few things I want, I don't want them greatly. 

And there was darkness over the land, and great grinning issued forth.... 

[Wakefield]

While I was ordering the Fitzwilliam, I realized that I don't have this one neither:

http://www.amazon.com/Haydn-Seven-Words-Christ-Cross/dp/B003H5L6Y4

... and any recording sponsored by Jaap Schröder is an instant recommendation to me.