Haydn's Haus

[Bogey]

I have not reviewed this entire thread again, but was wondering, due to the recent spins Harry and I have given, what you folks have in the way of Michael Haydn and your thoughts on his works.  And should we give consideration to moving the apostrophe to have the title read:

Haydns' Haus 

[JoshLilly]

There are several Michael Haydn symphonies that are just fantabulous. I heartily recommend the Vox Box double-CD of M. Haydn symphonies. I think those are actually my favourites of his symphonies on those 2 CDs, so I'm very lucky in that regard. There's some really awesome stuff in there. My take is that Michael's strength wasn't melodies. Not that they're bad, but there aren't too many (in my opinion, of course) that really stand out. It's what he does with them. Some of his works are so much fun. On that Vox set, you get a great sampling of his orchestral style spread out over several years: funny endings to movements, unusual scoring (including a "shepherd's flute"), rollicking fun music that seems intended to make you happy, and one symphony that contains a finale of some mega intensity (to compare with his brother, it reminds me of the later 'Drumroll' Symphony finale, except built around a four-part fugue).

The Olympia and cpo labels have each come out with (or are still in the process of coming out with) complete sets of all known M. Haydn symphonies. You can also get quite a bit of his other music, even his opera Andromeda und Perseo, which I like fairly well, but it's not cheap. Hrm... I see also Vox has recorded more of his symphonies than that one 2-CD box; the one I'm talking about has a reddish colouring to it, and is a bit older.

[Gabriel]

Other than some of his fine symphonies, I have listened to one of his Requiem masses, the Missa Pro Defuncto Archiepiscopo Sigismundo, which Mozart must have taken very seriously, if not as a model, at least as a strong reference, for his Requiem. I don't have the recording with me right now, but I remember the appearence of the "Te decet hymnus" at the beginning, or the motives of the fugal parts later, which are astonishing in the similarity with the younger composer's work.

[Que]

For Haydn's (Joseph that is! ) fortepiano concertos we seem to be spoiled for choice with two TOP performers!
Could I have your comments on differences in approach and your preference? (If you have one, maybe you like them both.. )

Click on pictures for links

.

Thanks!

Q

[George]

Brautigam now looks like an 80s pop star. 

[SonicMan46]

For Haydn's (Joseph that is! ) fortepiano concertos we seem to be spoiled for choice with two TOP performers!
Could I have your comments on differences in approach and your preference? (If you have one, maybe you like them both.. )

Q - thanks for mentioning these discs - can't comment, but will be interested; currently, I own only Pletnev playing 3 of these works on a modern piano.  However, since these are 'single' discs, I was curious about 'how many' Keyboard Concertos Haydn composed?

In reviewing his list of works in the back of the The New Grove Haydn (2002), there is an entry on pg. 122 entitled Keyboard Concertos/Concertinos/Divertimentos - under H18, 3, 4, & 11 are listed as Concerti w/ hpd or hpd/pf; 1, 2, & 6 are listed as org/hpd; 5, 8, & 10 are in an appendix w/ the statement 'attributed to Haydn' (and are w/ org/hpd); several seem to be missing.  As usual, a little confusing - BTW, on my Pletnev disc, the works played are H18:4, 7, & 11 (7 being 'attributed' to Haydn) - Dave

[Bogey]

For Haydn's (Joseph that is! )

Thanks!

Q

I am currently checking myself for blood, because I believe I just got tagged. 

[uffeviking]

Mr. Gurn I wish you a good flight tomorrow to attend this year's Salzburg Festival! I just read in Der Spiegel the new Intendant Jürgen Flimm has scheduled the Joseph Haydn opera Armida! It's all about a Heathen witch putting the jinx on a Christian knight. Sounds like fun! 

[Gurn Blanston]

Mr. Gurn I wish you a good flight tomorrow to attend this year's Salzburg Festival! I just read in Der Spiegel the new Intendant Jürgen Flimm has scheduled the Joseph Haydn opera Armida! It's all about a Heathen witch putting the jinx on a Christian knight. Sounds like fun! 

Tomorrow already? Schieß! I haven't even got my passport yet, and that could take years   

I have heard that Armida is one of his best. I would like to see that, as long as there isn't too much of that weird stuff in it that you like so much. Are they standing knee-deep in water the whole time?   

[Anne]

There was one well-known patient who would live to regret escaping John Hunter's knife.  The Austrian composer Joseph Haydn would become a familiar visitor to the Hunter household during his stay in London in 1791 and 1792  It was Hunter's attractive and talented wife, Anne, however, who attracted him to Leicester Square.  Haydn became a regular guest at Anne's musical evenings, and he even set six of her poems to music, his Six Original Canzonettas.  As their friendship grew, Anne would become regarded as Haydn's muse.

But the talented composer suffered from painful polyps in his nose.  Whether Hunter simply had an altruistic desire to ease Haydn's discomfort or, conceivably, suspected the friendship with his wife went beyond purely professional interest, he determined to employ his surgical instruments on the composer.  Initially, during a consultation in Hunter's study, Haydn seemed to consent to have the polyps removed.  But a moment later, when he was roughly grabbed by Hunter's assistants, forced toward a chair, and saw the surgeon bearing down on him with a pair of forceps glinting, he promptly changed his mind.  "I yelled and kicked and hit until I had freed myself," Haydn later recalled and made clear to Mr. Hunter, who already had his instruments ready for the operation, that I did not want to undergo the operation."  Finally he managed to convince Hunter to put away his instruments.  Haydn noted, "It seemed to me that he pitied me for not wanting to undergo the happy experience of enjoying his skill."  Returning to Austria, where his polyps continued to grow and cause him pain, Haydn later wished that he had consented to the happy experience of Hunter's skills.

The Knife Man: Blood, Body Snatching, and the Birth of Modern Surgery by Wendy Moore, c 2005, Broadway Books, N.Y. pp. 233-234.

I haven't been following this thread and apologize if someone already posted this anecdote.  I'd like to thank Sonic Man for recommending this book.  It was VERY interesting.

[Haffner]

I think that I read somewhere that Mozart completed a set of String Duos for Michael Haydn when the latter fell ill. WaM contributed two, which are perhaps the greatest works ever composed in that genre. I've read that the Archbishop wasn't exactly fooled: Mozart's two SDs were too glaringly superior to make the rest of the set look uniform.

[cx]

I am swept away by this music as of late:



Haydn: String Quartets Op 54 & 74 / Endellion Quartet

Now this is a genre in which Haydn most certainly excels. Op. 54 nos. 1 and 2 and Op.74 no. 3 are current favorites.

Time to get more, I suppose. I know this is out there:



but I'm on a budget and will probably go for a few single recordings before I even consider such a purchase.

So, any recommendations on quartet recordings? I welcome comments about the complete set above too!

--CS

[dtwilbanks]

CS,

I've heard a couple of these discs and enjoyed them. Still, rather expensive, I guess. But you do get 23 CDs.

http://www.cduniverse.com/search/xx/music/pid/1043011/a/Haydn:+Complete+String+Quartets+%2F+Kod%E1ly+Quartet.htm

[cx]

At Arkiv the Kodály discs are $5.99 a piece.

5.99 * 23 = 137.77 < 137.89 (cduniverse) 

Maybe I'll order a few of those single recordings to start out.


--CS

[dtwilbanks]

At Arkiv the Kodály discs are $5.99 a piece.

5.99 * 23 = 137.77 < 137.89 (cduniverse) 

Maybe I'll order a few of those single recordings to start out.


--CS

Yes, that's a sale to take advantage of.

[Haffner]

CS,

I've heard a couple of these discs and enjoyed them. Still, rather expensive, I guess. But you do get 23 CDs.

http://www.cduniverse.com/search/xx/music/pid/1043011/a/Haydn:+Complete+String+Quartets+%2F+Kod%E1ly+Quartet.htm

I think Harry would agree as well: GET THIS, you will have it for the rest of your life. Opp.s 20-77 are overall the most remarkable effort in the String Quartet genre. Beethoven bested them only in his later SQS, and Mozart drew up short as a whole.
Just my opinion.

[George]

I think Harry would agree as well: GET THIS, you will have it for the rest of your life.

So does George. 

[Que]

I've had four or five discs from this set, but parted with them after a while.

Q

[Haffner]

I've had four or five discs from this set, but parted with them after a while.

Q

What happened?

[DavidW]

I think Harry would agree as well: GET THIS, you will have it for the rest of your life. Opp.s 20-77 are overall the most remarkable effort in the String Quartet genre. Beethoven bested them only in his later SQS, and Mozart drew up short as a whole.
Just my opinion.

Kodaly's set is good, but they need to release a version without jewel cases.  I also like the Angeles Q set, and it came in box with sleeves type, it saves alot of space.  Performance wise I think they're about the same even interpretatively.  Just kind of classical style restraint, but polished and swift.  Sonic wise I think Kodaly has Angeles Q beat since Angeles Q has that weird asymmetric division of players between left and right.  Not really a problem through speakers, but obnoxious through headphones.