This CD is reissued by ArkivMusic.
Notes and Editorial Reviews
Haydn's symphonies remain the step-children of the record catalog, particularly the early and middle-period works. Why this should be so remains a mystery. Listen to these two pieces, so different in character. No. 48 is all pomp and festivity, with wild horn parts (this performance omits the later addition of timpani); No. 49 is Haydn's greatest (and last) piece in "church sonata" form, with an opening slow movement, and it's grounded in his personal key for expressing loneliness, desolation, and tragic emotion--F minor. No other composer of the period, and few since--not even Mozart--had as wide an emotional range at his command as Haydn shows in these two masterpieces.
Fortunately, they are wonderfully played here
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by the conductorless Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. Immaculate ensemble, perfectly judged tempos, colorful oboes (in both works), and amazing horn playing in No. 48 make for a thoroughly memorable experience, and a very well-recorded one too. At 51 minutes, the playing time is a little stingy by today's standards, but the artistic quality more than compensates. Available on demand from Arkivmusic.com, at least now these marvelous performances will remain available for the foreseeable future.
--David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com
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Works on This Recording
1.
Symphony no 48 in C major, H 1 no 48 "Maria Theresia" by Franz Joseph Haydn
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Orpheus Chamber Orchestra
Period: Classical
Written: by 1769; Eszterhazá, Hungary
2.
Symphony no 49 in F minor, H 1 no 49 "La Passione" by Franz Joseph Haydn
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Orpheus Chamber Orchestra
Period: Classical
Written: 1768; Eszterhazá, Hungary
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