Notes and Editorial Reviews
"Another cycle of the Haydn symphonies! You never know, non-specialist orchestras might even start programming them from time to time as a result of all this exposure. In the meantime, these first two volumes from the Canadian period-instrument group Tafelmusik strike me as distinctly more promising than those already released by Messrs Hogwood, Fischer or Goodman (or, for that matter, the complete Dorati set). The orchestra is quite small (30 players), but capable of a big sound – the string tone is especially refined, the oboes mercifully sweet-toned, and Ab Koster copes manfully with the taxing horn solos in No. 51. There’s no keyboard continuo, which again is a relief after the ‘harpsichord continuo’ approach of some
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recordings...Tempi are generally fast, but this never affects the strings’ superb articulation. The notes (by ‘Musicological and Artistic Consultant’, HC Robbins Landon) and the sound are both first rate. I await the next issues with interest."
-- Stephen Maddock, BBC Music Magazine
Composed in Eszterhaza, away from the centre stages of Europe, these six symphonies date from c 1772-3, the infant years of Beethoven. Here is invigorating, inspired, perennially original music, still capable of taking one's breath away. The character of Haydn — master symphonist, genius of surprise and silence, of phrasing and cadence, a man variously grand, melancholic, temperamental, witty and playful - is stamped everywhere. The bold invention of these works, their compositional intricacy, tonal adventures, easy, fresh polyphony and arresting orchestration (notably woodwind and horns), make them a unique historical experience. In his notes, HC Robbins Landon, musicological and artistic consultant to this Haydn project, rightly calls No. 45 (the Farewell) 'one of the most noble, tragic symphonies of its century'. And he draws interesting attention to the Sturm undDrang 'nervous, fiery writing, pungent harmonies and slightly sinister overtones' of Nos. 46 and 47. Mozart admired the latter. Did Beethoven perhaps know the former, with the unsettling minuet interpolation of its finale? Ceremonial C major Haydn informs No. 50, written in honour of Maria Theresa. Incidental music for theatre may have been the origin of Nos. 64 and 65.
All are played on period instruments (or reconstructions) pitched to concert A=430, without keyboard continue (Robbins Landon's recommendation nearly 40 years ago, rarely observed however). They are vibrantly alert to 18th-century rhythmic practice (the double-dotted introduction of No. 50, for example).
Tafelmusik under Bruno Weil offers an account of these trail-blazing masterworks that's as near definitive as you can get — though you'll find their minuet da capos to be at variance with the Academy of Ancient Music/Hogwood model.
Performance 5 (out of 5); Sound: 5 (out of 5)
-- Ates Orga, BBC Music Magazine
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Works on This Recording
1.
Symphony no 41 in C major, H 1 no 41 by Franz Joseph Haydn
Conductor:
Bruno Weil
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Tafelmusik
Period: Classical
Written: by 1770; Eszterhazá, Hungary
2.
Symphony no 42 in D major, H 1 no 42 by Franz Joseph Haydn
Conductor:
Bruno Weil
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Tafelmusik
Period: Classical
Written: 1771; Eszterhazá, Hungary
3.
Symphony no 43 in E flat major, H 1 no 43 "Mercury" by Franz Joseph Haydn
Conductor:
Bruno Weil
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Tafelmusik
Period: Classical
Written: by 1772; Eszterhazá, Hungary
4.
Symphony no 44 in E minor, H 1 no 44 "Trauer" by Franz Joseph Haydn
Conductor:
Bruno Weil
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Tafelmusik
Period: Classical
Written: by 1772; Eszterhazá, Hungary
5.
Symphony no 51 in B flat major, H 1 no 51 by Franz Joseph Haydn
Conductor:
Bruno Weil
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Tafelmusik
Period: Classical
Written: by 1774; Eszterhazá, Hungary
6.
Symphony no 52 in C minor, H 1 no 52 by Franz Joseph Haydn
Conductor:
Bruno Weil
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Tafelmusik
Period: Classical
Written: by 1774; Eszterhazá, Hungary
7.
Symphony no 45 in F sharp minor, H 1 no 45 "Farewell" by Franz Joseph Haydn
Conductor:
Bruno Weil
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Tafelmusik
Period: Classical
Written: 1772; Eszterhazá, Hungary
8.
Symphony no 46 in B major, H 1 no 46 by Franz Joseph Haydn
Conductor:
Bruno Weil
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Tafelmusik
Period: Classical
Written: 1772; Eszterhazá, Hungary
9.
Symphony no 47 in G major, H 1 no 47 by Franz Joseph Haydn
Conductor:
Bruno Weil
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Tafelmusik
Period: Classical
Written: 1772; Eszterhazá, Hungary
10.
Symphony no 50 in C major, H 1 no 50 by Franz Joseph Haydn
Conductor:
Bruno Weil
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Tafelmusik
Period: Classical
Written: 1773; Eszterhazá, Hungary
11.
Symphony no 64 in A major, H 1 no 64 "Tempora mutantur" by Franz Joseph Haydn
Conductor:
Bruno Weil
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Tafelmusik
Period: Classical
Written: by 1778; Eszterhazá, Hungary
12.
Symphony no 65 in A major, H 1 no 65 by Franz Joseph Haydn
Conductor:
Bruno Weil
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Tafelmusik
Period: Classical
Written: by 1778; Eszterhazá, Hungary
13.
Symphony no 82 in C major, H 1 no 82 "The Bear" by Franz Joseph Haydn
Conductor:
Bruno Weil
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Tafelmusik
Period: Classical
Written: 1786; Eszterhazá, Hungary
14.
Symphony no 83 in G minor, H 1 no 83 "The Hen" by Franz Joseph Haydn
Conductor:
Bruno Weil
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Tafelmusik
Period: Classical
Written: 1785; Eszterhazá, Hungary
15.
Symphony no 84 in E flat major, H 1 no 84 by Franz Joseph Haydn
Conductor:
Bruno Weil
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Tafelmusik
Period: Classical
Written: 1786; Eszterhazá, Hungary
16.
Symphony no 85 in B flat major, H 1 no 85 "La Reine" by Franz Joseph Haydn
Conductor:
Bruno Weil
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Tafelmusik
Period: Classical
Written: ?1785; Eszterhazá, Hungary
17.
Symphony no 86 in D major, H 1 no 86 by Franz Joseph Haydn
Conductor:
Bruno Weil
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Tafelmusik
Period: Classical
Written: 1786; Eszterhazá, Hungary
18.
Symphony no 87 in A major, H 1 no 87 by Franz Joseph Haydn
Conductor:
Bruno Weil
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Tafelmusik
Period: Classical
Written: 1785; Eszterhazá, Hungary
19.
Symphony no 88 in G major, H 1 no 88 by Franz Joseph Haydn
Conductor:
Bruno Weil
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Tafelmusik
Period: Classical
Written: circa 1787 ; Eszterhazá, Hungary
20.
Symphony no 89 in F major, H 1 no 89 by Franz Joseph Haydn
Conductor:
Bruno Weil
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Tafelmusik
Period: Classical
Written: 1787; Eszterhazá, Hungary
21.
Symphony no 90 in C major, H 1 no 90 by Franz Joseph Haydn
Conductor:
Bruno Weil
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Tafelmusik
Period: Classical
Written: 1788; Eszterhazá, Hungary
Featured Sound Samples
Symphony no 41: I. Allegro con spirito
Symphony no 45 "Farewell": I. Allegro assai
Customer Reviews
Average Customer Review: 
( 1 Customer Review )
Handleable Haydn May 9, 2012
By James Kendall (Kentfield, CA) See All My Reviews
"I am not a music academic. I've listened to classical, to the exclusion of everything else, for 30 years; yet I do not know a key from a note. I can whistle, accompanied, through all symphonies, etc., and some opera; replete with my own "cadenza"-work. But it's in the listening, that I exult. This 7 CD set of 20% of Haydn's symphonic output is in a unique niche. Most of (as per any classical composer's genre) Haydn's work has been interpretively amped-up to appeal to the modern auricular palette. This set FEELS like Haydn as his contemporaries heard it. With most recordings, we volume-up to savor the tricked-out nuances of each symphonic interpretation; which I find plays mischief to any reading I was about as it is distracting. With the Bruno Weil, Tafelmusik/Vivarte collection; at any volume I'm treated to true, level-headed Haydn; which carries the room without obstructing my paragraph. I am hoping maestro Weil will cut his baton upon much more of Haydn."
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