Haydn Symphonies
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Joseph Haydn
Label: Das Alte Werk Reference
Magazine Review Date: 4/1995
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 78
Mastering:
DDD
Catalogue Number: 4509-90843-2
Tracks:
Composition | Artist Credit |
---|---|
Symphony No. 31, 'Hornsignal' |
Joseph Haydn, Composer
Joseph Haydn, Composer Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Conductor Vienna Concentus Musicus |
Symphony No. 59, 'Fire' |
Joseph Haydn, Composer
Joseph Haydn, Composer Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Conductor Vienna Concentus Musicus |
Symphony No. 73, '(La) chasse' |
Joseph Haydn, Composer
Joseph Haydn, Composer Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Conductor Vienna Concentus Musicus |
Author: Richard Wigmore
Collectors of previous discs in Harnoncourt's Haydn series with the Vienna Concentus Musicus will have a fair idea of what to expect here: bold, forceful Allegros, marked by extreme contrasts between abrasive, fiercely accented tuttis (with prominent wind and brass) and delicately inflected lyrical music; carefully moulded slow movements, with detailed phrasing and dynamic shadings that some will find subtle, others over-fastidious; and an invariable tempo discrepancy, pronounced (No. 31) or relatively slight (Nos. 59 and 73), between minuets and their trios. Harnoncourt's Viennese period band, based around 24 strings (8, 8, 4, 2, 2), rather more than most conductors favour for Haydn's early and middle-period symphonies, play with notable precision and panache. There is no harpsichord continuo, which may offend some listeners in the two earlier works, the Hornsignal (1765) and the Fire Symphony (c1767); and as usual Harnoncourt observes every marked repeat.
Of the three performances here I most enjoyed La chasse. The splendid, elaborately worked opening movement has a powerful rhythmic stride and gains much from Harnoncourt's scrupulous differentiation between piano and pianissimo, forte and fortissimo, and between slurred, unslurred and staccato violin semiquavers in the tuttis. The Andante, characteristically, is graver and more reflective than from Goodman on the rival period version (coupled with Nos. 74 and 75), the main theme played more 'on the string' than usual. Harnoncourt makes a lusty country waltz out of the minuet (Goodman is lighter and fleeter), and actually increases the tempo unconvincingly to my ears—for the trio. The finale, replete with traditional hunting calls, has terrific gusto, and unlike Goodman, Harnoncourt includes Haydn's authentic trumpet and drum parts here, enhancing the music's festive exuberance.
Much of the Hornsignal is also pretty impressive. The quartet of horns, cultivating a rawer, more brazen sonority than their counterparts on the Hogwood version, perform their antics with stunning virtuosity, though they are rather too forwardly balanced, and too reluctant to play below forte in the first movement and minuet. In the Adagio the solo violinist and cellist shape their lines eloquently, with a touch of fantasy and rhythmic freedom; and the potentially overlong final variations are more inventively characterized than in any other performance I've heard—though I wasn't convinced by Harnoncourt's short appoggiaturas in bars 2 and 6 of the theme. The minuet is aggressively up-tempo, the trio (again, with controversially short grace notes) distinctly sluggish—why this wilful dislocation when Haydn has already written ample contrast into the music?
In the outer movements of the Fire Symphony (the nickname presumably derives from the crackling repeated notes of the opening) Harnoncourt is certainly more combustible than either Hogwood or Pinnock, especially in the opening Presto, with its violent slashed chords and explosive dynamic contrasts. Some listeners will find Harnoncourt exaggerated here, though his reading seems to me apt to the music's flamboyant theatricality. But if Harnoncourt's minute attention to details of phrasing and balance pays dividends in the slow movements of Nos. 31 and 73, the not-so-slow second movement of No. 59 is surely too artfully inflected, with precious-sounding swells in the C major second theme (from 0'36'') and unconvincing tempo fluctuations. Again, the short appoggiaturas in the main theme seem to go against the sense of the music. The briskly strutting minuet also suffers from rhythmic licence, losing impetus in the soft music, though I liked the suggestion of suppressed agitation that Harnoncourt brings to the A minor trio. Uneven performances then, which provoke their fair share of frustration, though at their best they have an imagination and a sense of character which can make the fine, smaller-scale period readings listed above seem a shade ordinary. The recording, made in Vienna's Casino Zogernitz, is spacious and vivid, with a generous reverberation which only rarely impedes clarity of detail in the tuttis.'
Of the three performances here I most enjoyed La chasse. The splendid, elaborately worked opening movement has a powerful rhythmic stride and gains much from Harnoncourt's scrupulous differentiation between piano and pianissimo, forte and fortissimo, and between slurred, unslurred and staccato violin semiquavers in the tuttis. The Andante, characteristically, is graver and more reflective than from Goodman on the rival period version (coupled with Nos. 74 and 75), the main theme played more 'on the string' than usual. Harnoncourt makes a lusty country waltz out of the minuet (Goodman is lighter and fleeter), and actually increases the tempo unconvincingly to my ears—for the trio. The finale, replete with traditional hunting calls, has terrific gusto, and unlike Goodman, Harnoncourt includes Haydn's authentic trumpet and drum parts here, enhancing the music's festive exuberance.
Much of the Hornsignal is also pretty impressive. The quartet of horns, cultivating a rawer, more brazen sonority than their counterparts on the Hogwood version, perform their antics with stunning virtuosity, though they are rather too forwardly balanced, and too reluctant to play below forte in the first movement and minuet. In the Adagio the solo violinist and cellist shape their lines eloquently, with a touch of fantasy and rhythmic freedom; and the potentially overlong final variations are more inventively characterized than in any other performance I've heard—though I wasn't convinced by Harnoncourt's short appoggiaturas in bars 2 and 6 of the theme. The minuet is aggressively up-tempo, the trio (again, with controversially short grace notes) distinctly sluggish—why this wilful dislocation when Haydn has already written ample contrast into the music?
In the outer movements of the Fire Symphony (the nickname presumably derives from the crackling repeated notes of the opening) Harnoncourt is certainly more combustible than either Hogwood or Pinnock, especially in the opening Presto, with its violent slashed chords and explosive dynamic contrasts. Some listeners will find Harnoncourt exaggerated here, though his reading seems to me apt to the music's flamboyant theatricality. But if Harnoncourt's minute attention to details of phrasing and balance pays dividends in the slow movements of Nos. 31 and 73, the not-so-slow second movement of No. 59 is surely too artfully inflected, with precious-sounding swells in the C major second theme (from 0'36'') and unconvincing tempo fluctuations. Again, the short appoggiaturas in the main theme seem to go against the sense of the music. The briskly strutting minuet also suffers from rhythmic licence, losing impetus in the soft music, though I liked the suggestion of suppressed agitation that Harnoncourt brings to the A minor trio. Uneven performances then, which provoke their fair share of frustration, though at their best they have an imagination and a sense of character which can make the fine, smaller-scale period readings listed above seem a shade ordinary. The recording, made in Vienna's Casino Zogernitz, is spacious and vivid, with a generous reverberation which only rarely impedes clarity of detail in the tuttis.'
Explore the world’s largest classical music catalogue on Apple Music Classical.
Included with an Apple Music subscription. Download now.
Gramophone Digital Club
- Digital Edition
- Digital Archive
- Reviews Database
- Events & Offers
From £9.20 / month
SubscribeGramophone Club
- Print Edition
- Digital Edition
- Digital Archive
- Reviews Database
- Events & Offers
From £11.45 / month
Subscribe
If you are a library, university or other organisation that would be interested in an institutional subscription to Gramophone please click here for further information.