The Haydn symphonies with numbers in the 70s don't appear often in the concert hall or on disc, making Volume 25 of the continuing Naxos survey of these works particularly useful. The performances, by Béla Drahos and the Nicolaus Esterházy Sinfonia, were recorded and edited in 20-bit digital sound, which affords considerable sonic gains over previous issues from this source--though don't forget that Naxos is using several different ensembles, conductors, and recording teams in this exploration, so results vary widely. But throughout this disc, Drahos secures effective and stylish results, and the orchestral playing is of an impressively high order of expertise.


Symphonies 70 and 71 date from 1779-80, and each has unique features that Drahos doesn't overlook. For example, in No. 70's opening allegro Haydn sets his brief but highly concentrated development as a terse, jagged stretto, a highly progressive and "modern" technique in its day, and Drahos dissects the off-beat exchanges with an edgy angularity that's as aptly disturbing today as it must have been for Haydn's first audiences. Drahos also vividly captures the contrast between the ceremonial opening, complete with trumpets and drums, and the dark, severe middle section. The same severity extends to the weird canonic andante, its inverted counterpoint made doubly sinister owing to Haydn's "con sordino" direction to the violins. Unusually for a symphony in D major, a great deal of it is in the minor mode, so the provision of a startling and dramatic finale with fugal elements (there's even a triple fugue!) is no surprise. Drahos and his band give a fine reading, but it might have been even more telling had the violins been antiphonally divided.


In Symphony No. 71, Drahos is very adept at underscoring the Hungarian rhythms and effects. Particularly good is the trio section of the Menuet, with its two solo violins (they play with no vibrato, producing just the right rustic, gypsy feel) heard above guitar-like pizzicato strummings of the accompaniment. The later Symphony No. 73 in D "La Chasse" is better known, and the present account is in every regard a fine recommendation. The athletic high-lying horn parts are rock-solid throughout, the winds are superb, and the strings (especially violins in the songful Andante) play with impressive uniformity of tone and ensemble. Though Drahos is very good at managing effects such as the jubilant horn calls and droning hurdy-gurdy pedal notes suggestive of village festivities, the one disappointment comes with his unconvincing diminuendo at the symphony's conclusion. Decca's complete survey from Antal Dorati and the Philharmonia Hungarica includes a more pictorialist and imaginative version, but the orchestral playing isn't as refined and the recording is too resonant to allow inner voices to register ideally, as they do here.
--Michael Jameson, ClassicsToday.com