Haydn's Haus

[HenselFlaeder]

Excellent start, Bill. I have that disk too, not only is the Haydn very good, but that c minor sextet is a great intro to Krommer for those few who are unfamiliar with him!

I'm am not just overrun with Haydn divertimentos, although I have a few. The difficulty in recommending is that many of them are OOP.   One that is OOP, but still frequently available in Amazon Marketplace or eBay is on SONY, called "Haydn 'The Natural Horn'". It features L'Archibudelli with Ab Koster on horn, and the contents are:

Hob deest (means "not appearing in Hoboken", BTW) - Cassation in D for 4 Horns, Violin, Viola & Bass
Hob II:21 - Divertimento in Eb for 2 Horns and String Quartet (a very popular combination in those days)
Hob VIId:3 Concerto in D for Horn, 2 Oboes & Strings
Hob IV:5 Divertimento à tre in Eb for Horn, Violin & Cello (yup, that's a Horn Trio)
Hob II:22 Divertimento in D for 2 Horns & String Quartet

This is a super disk for lovers of the natural horn and Haydn in general.

I had just been listening to that one, Gurn. I can just play Hadyn all day long with only a slight need of Mozart in the mid-early afternoon!

[Gurn Blanston]

You really prefer Norrington's first record to his one with the Stuttgart?

For me this symphony (The Mlitary) is for ever linked to two old performances, Van Beinum and Fricsay. Those were the two Haydn symphony performances which convinced me to take Haydn really seriously as a composer, and to some extent Van Beinum's especially really formed my taste in Haydn - sudden unexpected bursts of intense unpredictable threatening manic energy.

I recall well my excitement when I first discovered this serious angular way to play the music - no more "papa".

YMMV 

Back in the early 1960's, my father had a LP with 94 & 100 on it. I played it ad infinitum until eventually it gave up the ghost (I was no surgeon at 12). I don't know the players to this day, but it was a fine performance, and sold me on Haydn even then.

[Gurn Blanston]

I had just been listening to that one, Gurn. I can just play Haydn all day long with only a slight need of Mozart in the mid-early afternoon!

Yes, I wrote that post long ago, but my opinion of the disk hasn't changed an iota. Everyone should have it.

Why people think there is little or no difference between Mozart & Haydn's music is a mystery to me. They both have their attractions, but they are rarely of the same order.  0:)

Welcome to the Haus.

[Daverz]

YMMV 

Back in the early 1960's, my father had a LP with 94 & 100 on it. I played it ad infinitum until eventually it gave up the ghost (I was no surgeon at 12). I don't know the players to this day, but it was a fine performance, and sold me on Haydn even then.

This seems like a likely candidate for that LP.

http://www.cdandlp.com/item/2/0-1406-0-1-0/116129400/haydn-wiener-symphoniker-sawallisch-symphony-94-'surprise'-100-'military'.html

[Gurn Blanston]

This seems like a likely candidate for that LP.

http://www.cdandlp.com/item/2/0-1406-0-1-0/116129400/haydn-wiener-symphoniker-sawallisch-symphony-94-'surprise'-100-'military'.html

Entirely possible, Dave. The cover pic looks different, but it's been almost 50 years!    Thanks!

[DavidW]

Mandryka, do you enjoy other approaches (to the Military) now or do you find yourself locked into those two?

[Mandryka]

Mandryka, do you enjoy other approaches (to the Military) now or do you find yourself locked into those two?

Brüggen. I really like his weightiness.

I also have a very interesting one from Harnoncourt, unpublished, with SWR Sinfonieorchester in 1984.


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[Wakefield]

Well, the one I have in my master set is Minkowski, the only one of that box that made it to the final cut. They flat play the hell out of it, just the way I like it. Probably my second favorite is Norrington. Brüggen, Kuijken & Hogwood are all chasing right up behind, but none match Minkowski for the excitement in the performance, maybe because it is live instead of studio?   

It's incredible how much I hate everything conducted by Minkowski. In my view Minkowski is dramatically lesser gifted than almost everyone who have conducted Haydn on period instruments. His only purpose seems to be to assert a sort of brutal vitality, with no respect for any kind of nuance, irony or deepness. 

[TheGSMoeller]

It's incredible how much I hate everything conducted by Minkowski. In my view Minkowski is dramatically lesser gifted than almost everyone who have conducted Haydn on period instruments. His only purpose seems to be to assert a sort of brutal vitality, with no respect for any kind of nuance, irony or deepness. 

You must really hate his Rameau. 

[Dancing Divertimentian]

You must really hate his Rameau. 

I enjoy what I have of Minkowski's Handel opera recordings (three of them). He definitely holds his own when compared to other big guns. (I'm a big fan if his recording of Hercules). But that's the only Minkowski I have.

[Gurn Blanston]

It's incredible how much I hate everything conducted by Minkowski. In my view Minkowski is dramatically lesser gifted than almost everyone who have conducted Haydn on period instruments. His only purpose seems to be to assert a sort of brutal vitality, with no respect for any kind of nuance, irony or deepness. 

I'm sorry you have such a negative response to Minkowski. I can see where you are coming from, although I am not pushed so perilously close to the edge by him as you are, obviously.  Still, using 1 out of 12 symphonies isn't to say that I dote on him myself.   

[Wakefield]

You must really hate his Rameau. 

Actually, one of my favorite pieces by Rameau, it's also my favorite way to prove the ineptitude of Minkowski as conductor:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKvd4tMkFHc

[Brahmsian]

Today's Haus News!

Listened to DRD disc # 19 and # 31.  More gems, of course! 

Disc 19

Symphony No. 50 in C major "Der Gotterrat"
Symphony No. 55 in E flat major "Der Schulmeister"
Symphony No. 54 in G major

Disc 31

Symphony No. 91 in E flat major
Symphony No. 92 in G major "Oxford"

8 discs so far.  Only 29 more to go!    Fabulous!

[Wakefield]

I'm sorry you have such a negative response to Minkowski. I can see where you are coming from, although I am not pushed so perilously close to the edge by him as you are, obviously.  Still, using 1 out of 12 symphonies isn't to say that I dote on him myself.   

It was written in bronze, dear Gurn: One day this disciple had to abandon the path of his mentor. 

[Gurn Blanston]

Today's Haus News!

Listened to DRD disc # 19 and # 31.  More gems, of course! 

Disc 19

Symphony No. 50 in C major "Der Gotterrat"
Symphony No. 55 in E flat major "Der Schulmeister"
Symphony No. 54 in G major

Disc 31

Symphony No. 91 in E flat major
Symphony No. 92 in G major "Oxford"

8 discs so far.  Only 29 more to go!    Fabulous!

Ah, some beauties there! Of course, I don't play favorites, but some of my favorites number among that group. Won't name names, can't make me....   

[Wakefield]

I enjoy what I have of Minkowski's Handel opera recordings (three of them). He definitely holds his own when compared to other big guns. (I'm a big fan if his recording of Hercules). But that's the only Minkowski I have.

I have heard this from other reliable people, too. Unfortunately, excepting his instrumental output, I'm not a Händel fan.

[Gurn Blanston]

It was written in bronze, dear Gurn: One day this disciple had to abandon the path of his mentor. 

Mais oui, Young Gordo. If everyone's tastes were precisely congruent we would all listen to obscure Late Romantic orchestral music and write long posts to ourselves about it. But no, certainly not. Here, the boldest among us even strike out for the Baroque. With predictable results.   

[Wakefield]

Mais oui, Young Gordo. If everyone's tastes were precisely congruent we would all listen to obscure Late Romantic orchestral music and write long posts to ourselves about it. But no, certainly not. Here, the boldest among us even strike out for the Baroque. With predictable results.   

No doubt, Gurn. I can even enjoy some "old crap" here and there, as - I think-  I have given up the superstition of "progress". 

[Gurn Blanston]

No doubt, Gurn. I can even enjoy some "old crap" here and there, as - I think-  I have given up the superstition of "progress". 

If forward progress is a superstition, doesn't that mean that its negative is also?     Although if you are pointing out the overtly obvious "it's all downhill from there", I am clearly on board with it; one need only define where 'there' is.   

[Wakefield]

If forward progress is a superstition, doesn't that mean that its negative is also?     Although if you are pointing out the overtly obvious "it's all downhill from there", I am clearly on board with it; one need only define where 'there' is.   

My standpoint is quite simple, childishly simple, indeed: Progress does not exist in human creation of beauty things. The Beauty is waiting for us everywhere; unexpectedly, for instance, in unknown old recordings covered by dust or, as we know too much well, in works composed three or four hundred years ago. But it does not mean to state a special faith in the past because exactly the same assertion is true about future... Case to case is the only infallible rule. The problem? We have no time and so we need to choose quite arbitrarily our preferences and guiding criteria because life is too much short. Personally, I chose believing in the superiority of the XVIII Century, Bach and Haydn but -who knows- maybe I would be equally rewarded if I had chosen, say, the XVII Century or exclusively Purcell and his English contemporaries.