Haydn's Haus

[71 dB]

I was there! It was a great, joyous performance of a brilliant piece. I also like how they went from Ligeti to Haydn

Oh, that's cool! 

[JBS]

While liatening to the London Haydn Quartet's newest (Opp 77/42 and Seven Last Words) I realized they aren't doing Opus 103. Anyone know why?

[And no one has visited the Haus in two months?

[Madiel]

Anyone know why?

One presumes they decided not to do an incomplete work. Which is odd given it was published at the time.

[DaveF]

While liatening to the London Haydn Quartet's newest (Opp 77/42 and Seven Last Words) I realized they aren't doing Opus 103. Anyone know why?

No room? (2 discs already running to 2 hours 26 minutes.)

Also, if Presto's website is to be believed - https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/9436376--haydn-string-quartets-op-42-77-seven-last-words - they also needed to leave space on the disc for a substantial chunk of Messiaen 

[Jo498]

The Festetics Qt. did not record op.1+2 either. These works even have been re-classified in the new Haydn edition as "Early divertimenti for string" or sth. like that.

[JBS]

The Festetics Qt. did not record op.1+2 either. These works even have been re-classified in the new Haydn edition as "Early divertimenti for string" or sth. like that.

But they did do Opus 103.
But not the 7 Last Words.

[Jo498]

The Festetics recorded the 7 last words years earlier for another label.
Almost everyone records op.103 because today it will easily fit on one CD with op.77; it's quite strange that they left it out.

[JBS]

The Festetics recorded the 7 last words years earlier for another label.
Almost everyone records op.103 because today it will easily fit on one CD with op.77; it's quite strange that they left it out.

They opted to place Opus 42 there instead.

[Jo498]

Sure, but op.103 lasts only about 11-12 min, it should fit in somewhere in a complete set; alternatively, op.42 (about 15 min) is often included with op.33; it's not either/or and both belong to a complete set. (IMO op.1+2 also belong, whereas I am not sure about 7 last words. With all respect to the 7 last words, I find it a bit bizarre that they are probably one of the 10 most frequently recorded "Haydn quartets))

[Madiel]

Yes, and it's equally weird that the quartet version of the 7 Last Words is way more common than any other version of the work.

[SonicMan46]

Seven Last Words... - Preferences and recommendations?

Hi All - purchased the newest release by the London Haydn Quartet and just listened to and enjoyed the 'Last Words' - as is well known there are a variety of 'formats' for this work, i.e. string quartet, keyboard, orchestral, & choral - I now own the half dozen recordings below (no pure orchestral version - yet?).  Do I need this many?  Should I cull or add?  Probably need to do some comparative listening; obviously the SQ approach seems to appeal to me the most.

BUT, please comment and add recommendations - BTW, a nice MusicWeb survey HERE - Dave

   

   

[Madiel]

The Mosaiques managed to make the music sound interesting, which is not at all a given (one of the reasons I'm mystified about the SQ arrangement being so popular is the lack of instrumental colour).

[Daverz]

Seven Last Words... - Preferences and recommendations?

Think I prefer the orchestral version:

[JBS]

I have Brautigam, Mosaiques, the newly arrived LHQ, and Harnoncourt

I seem to remember the Savall being a favorite of @Gurn Blanston .


ETA
I have the Aeolian Quartet set, which includes TSLW, but don't remember a thing about their performance.

[VonStupp]

Dave, @SonicMan46 - Not to show my hand in how I prefer my Haydn, but I love the Muti/Berlin orchestral & Harnoncourt choral proffered above. 
VS

[Mandryka]

https://www.jtilbury.com/joseph-haydn/

The link there is to John Tilbury playing the F minor variations. Worth a listen.

[Florestan]

I am currently reading an interesting Italian Ph. D. thesis

Le influenze su Rossini della musica di Haydn

(The Influence of Haydn's Music on Rossini)

and on page 14 I read a paragraph which made me laugh out loud. It reads in Italian:

Tutt'altra situazione nel Regno di Napoli, perlomeno da ciò che traspare nelle lettere del segretario
dell'ambasciatore austriaco presso Ferdinando IV di Borbone, Norbert Hadrava: nella
corrispondenza datata 14 marzo 1786 egli racconta che durante gli intermezzi delle commedie
francesi che si davano al Teatro Reale "fu ordinato ai violinisti di corte di suonare. Sua Maestà il re
non ne poté più di sopportare la robaccia che quella gente suonava, e ordinò al primo violino di
mettere mano alle sinfonie di Haydn, che nella raccolta di musica del re sono disponibili in gran
copia, e di suonarle una dopo l'altra di tanto in tanto negli intermezzi. Ora per lo meno si sentiva
buona musica, anche se suonata in modo mediocre". La passione del re per Haydn doveva essere
profonda se egli, continua Hadrava, in un'occasione durante la quale gli strumentisti suonarono
malissimo una sua sinfonia, "ordinò che alla fine della commedia francese l'intera orchestra fosse
portata al posto di guardia; che l'ufficiale di guardia lasciasse tutti sul posto di picchetto fino a
nuovo ordine. Questa lezione ha avuto buoni effetti: la volta successiva hanno suonato abbastanza
bene una nuova sinfonia di Haydn, cosicché tutti gli ascoltatori se ne sono rallegrati di cuore"

And here is the English translation:

A completely different situation in the Kingdom of Naples, at least from what transpires in the letters of the Secretary of the Austrian Ambassador to Ferdinand IV of Bourbon, Norbert Hadrava: in a correspondence dated March 14, 1786 he recounts that during the interludes of the French play given in the Royal Theater "the court violinists were ordered to play. His Majesty the King couldn't stand any longer the crap these people played, and ordered the first violin to get their hands on Haydn's symphonies, which were available in large quantities in the king's music collection, and to play them one after the other as interludes. Now at least good music was heard, even if played in a mediocre way". The King's passion for Haydn was so profound, continues Hadrava, that on an occasion during which the instrumentalists played very badly a symphony of his "[His Majesty] ordered that at the end of the French comedy the whole orchestra be taken to the guardhouse; that the officer on the watch keep everyone in custody until new order. This lesson had a good effect: the next time they played a new symphony by Haydn reasonably well, so that all listeners heartily rejoiced."

Given Ferdinand's historically confirmed record of being both a fanatic lover of Haydn's music and a very impulsive and reckless man, I tend to believe it's true. 

[Brian]

Mostly for myself, really, a quick reference sheet to the Haydn Quartet recordings I own:

Opp. 1, 2, 9, 17 - apparently none?
Op. 20 - Mosaiques
Op. 33 - Auryn
Op. 42 - Auryn
Op. 50 - Auryn (and Prazak in Nos. 3, 5, 6 only)
Op. 54 - Endellion
Op. 55 - apparently none?
Op. 64 - Auryn
Op. 71 - Prazak, Takacs, Maxwell
Op. 74 - Endellion, Takacs, Maxwell
Op. 76 - Prazak, Chiaroscuro
Op. 77 - Auryn
Op. 103 - Auryn

No idea how Op. 55 fell through the cracks. This situation must be resolved immediately! I'm also sufficiently enamored with Opp. 33, 64, and 77 to think about getting extra/supplemental recordings.

Edit: Just remembered that, through Qobuz, I purchased digital downloads of the Panocha in Op. 55, along with Opp. 76 complete and 33 Nos 1-4. Now, why on earth did I buy the partial Op. 33 vinyl rip when I could have purchased the complete set available on a different listing?

[Jo498]

Probably the complete Panocha op.33 was not yet available earlier? I don't know it, have only seen a ~30 yo CD of 1-4.

op. 9 + 17 are really underrated. Sure, they don't come close to op.20 but they were written only about 2-3 years before, in a sense all 18 form the real start of the string quartets after the divertimenti from about 10 years earlier.
There are few movements that seem a bit stiff/formulaic and several slow movements are basically accompanied violin solos (still very nice) but they are all worth listening to.

With few exceptions the ones before op.20 have only been recorded within complete traversals.

[JBS]

Mostly for myself, really, a quick reference sheet to the Haydn Quartet recordings I own:

Opp. 1, 2, 9, 17 - apparently none?
Op. 20 - Mosaiques
Op. 33 - Auryn
Op. 42 - Auryn
Op. 50 - Auryn
Op. 54 - Endellion
Op. 55 - apparently none?
Op. 64 - Auryn
Op. 71 - Prazak, Takacs, Maxwell
Op. 74 - Endellion, Takacs, Maxwell
Op. 76 - Prazak, Chiaroscuro
Op. 77 - Auryn
Op. 103 - Auryn

No idea how Op. 55 fell through the cracks. This situation must be resolved immediately! I'm also sufficiently enamored with Opp. 33, 64, and 77 to think about getting extra/supplemental recordings.

Edit: Just remembered that, through Qobuz, I purchased digital downloads of the Panocha in Op. 55, along with Opp. 76 complete and 33 Nos 1-4. Now, why on earth did I buy the partial Op. 33 vinyl rip when I could have purchased the complete set available on a different listing?

Opus 1-9: the Kodaly Quartet is probably a safe bet, especially if you just want them as a download; I'd suggest London Haydn Quartet for Opus 17.