Haydn’s six Op. 20 string quartets are milestones in the history of the genre. He wrote them in 1772 for performance by his colleagues at the Esterházy court and, unusually, not specifically for publication. Each one is a unique masterpiece and the set introduces compositional techniques that radically transformed the genre and shaped it for centuries to come. Haydn overturns conventional instrumental roles, crafts remarkably original colours and textures, and unlocks new expressive possibilities in these works which were crucial in establishing the reputation of purely instrumental music. The range within the quartets is kaleidoscopic. From the introspective, chorale-like slow movement of No. 1 via the terse and radical quartet No. 3 in G minor to the comic spirit of the fourth in D major, each of the quartets inhabits a distinct musical world. For many, this is some of the greatest music Haydn ever wrote. Playing these seminal works is one of the world’s finest young ensembles, the Doric String Quartet.

Heidelberger Sinfoniker, Thomas Fey & Johannes Klumpp - Joseph Haydn: Complete Symphonies [36CDs Box Set] (2024)
MP3 320 Kbps | Run Time: 01:16:16:36 | 5.4 Gb | Booklet 34.18 Mb
Genre: Classical | Label: Hänssler Classic

Joseph Haydn’s symphonic oeuvre forms the foundation on which the musical works of the Classical, Romantic and, ultimately, Modern periods stand: Many have failed to present this complex in its entirety. When the Heidelberg Symphony Orchestra proudly presented Volume 1 of Haydn’s symphonies in 1999, the intention was to record and publish the complete orchestral oeuvre of this classic composer up to the 200th anniversary of his death in 2009. There were no recordings in the orchestra’s archive and little experience with this composer: a bold plan that ultimately took 25 years to realize. And yet it seemed a thoroughly realistic vision for the still young but independent orchestra, which was not bound by any municipal repertoire. After all, it also promised solid basic funding for the decade for musicians who had previously lived from hand to mouth.

Mikhail Pletnev was born in Archangelsk, which is located in the north of Russia on the coast of the White Sea. By the time Pletnev began piano studies at age seven, with pianist Julia Shaskina, his family had moved to the central Russian City of Kazan in Tatarstan. Pletnev demonstrated promise and was enrolled at age 13 in Evgeny Timakin's piano preparatory class at the Moscow Central Music School. At 14, Pletnev earned the Grand Prix awarded by the International Jeunesses Musicales in Paris, and at 15 he transferred into master classes headed by Yakov Flier at the Moscow Conservatory. /quote]

For his new album Maximilian Hornung chose the two cello concertos Joseph Haydn (1732-1809), which he recorded with the Potsdam Chamber Academy under the direction of Antonello Manacorda. The two most technically demanding concerts are among the top works that were composed in the 18th century for the cello. In particular, the rediscovery of the Cello Concerto in C major, which was thought to be lost until the 20th century, made in 1961 for a sensation in the music world.

Most composers couldn't fill 20 CDs with all their works; it takes that many just to house the operas of one of the most prolific composers in classical music. These late-'70s recordings (featuring the Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne under the direction of Antal Dorati) were groundbreaking at the time and remain cherished documents of some of Haydn's lesser-known works. You'll hear Armida (featuring Jessye Norman); La Fedelta Premiata ( Fidelity Rewarded ); Orlando Paladino ( Orlando the Paladin ); La Vera Costanza ( True Constancy , also with Norman); L'Incontro Improvviso ( The Unforeseen Encounter ); L'Infedelta Delusa ( Infidelity Outwitted ); L'Insola Disabitata ( The Desert Island ), and Il Mondo Della Luna (The World on the Moon ) plus additional arias

Decca has created this complete collection of award winning recordings to celebrate the 200th Anniversary of Haydn's death. Recorded between 1969 and 1972, this was the first complete cycle of Haydn's symphonies. Hungarian-born Antal Dorati was a Haydn pioneer and specialist who also recorded Haydn operas for Philips during the same period. The Decca catalog of Haydn is without parallel and contains complete cycles of the Piano Sonatas and String Quartets. This is a limited-edition super-budget set.

It's not as if recordings of the 62 Piano Sonatas of Franz Josef Haydn are thick on the ground. Among the relative big names, there's Jeno Jando on Naxos and John McCabe on Decca. Among the less well-known names, there's Walid Akl on Koch Discover, Roland Batik on Camerata, Ronald Brautigam on BIS, Walter Olbertz on Berlin Classics, and Christine Schornsheim on Capriccio. And for those listeners with record players and aging memories, there's also the venerable Hungaroton cycle, the first complete recorded cycle, that coupled relatively well-known Hungarians like Zoltán Kocsis and Dezsö Ránki with nearly unknown Hungarians like János Sebestyén and the inimitable Zsuzsa Pertis.

In the series of live recordings with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, this outstanding recording took place both in Germany and abroad. Jansons’ previous Ravel/Bartók recording has received an ECHO Klassik in 2008. On this new album, the orchestra presents key symphonic works by Joseph Haydn: the Sinfonia Concertante No. 105 and symphonies No. 100 and No. 104. Once again Jansons and the Orchestra prove to have a superb flair for the musical content of those works.

This warmly recorded, naturally balanced disc is delightful. The Minetti Quartet offers three late Haydn masterpieces, played with plenty of high spirits and, in the slow movements, a fresh songfulness (both Opp. 64's and 76's are marked "cantabile") that's most affecting. There's practically nothing to criticize here. Highlights include the really zippy final prestos of Opp. 64 and 76, and the intense Largo assai of the "Rider" quartet. In the finale of the latter, the group's articulation is a touch clipped in the main theme, and as a result the music doesn't quite speak as it should, but better too much energy than too little. The minuet (really a scherzo) of Op. 76 also is terrific, smooth as silk until Haydn's disruptive syncopation sets in. If you're looking for a very attractive single-disc collection of late Haydn quartets, I can recommend this without hesitation. Playing time is a bit short–under an hour–so there was still room for another full quartet, but if this doesn't concern you terribly, then go for it.

The symphonic works featured on this 2CD set all come from a period during the second half of the eighteenth century that has come to be known as the “Age of Enlightenment” when Frederick the Second ruled over Prussia. Alongside acknowledged masterpieces by Mozart and Haydn, the program also includes pieces by Hasse, Graun and C.P.E Bach that are receiving their first ever recording. The music is performed by the rising stars of the Austrian Chamber Group “Modern Times_1800”.

Founded in 1969 at the Juilliard School of Music, the Tokyo Quartet have amassed a fine and distinguished array of recordings for various labels, many enthusiastically received. In 2013 they disbanded after their longest serving members, the second violin Kikuei Ikeda and viola Kazuhide Isomura, decided to retire. Their final concert took place in Norfolk, Connecticut on 6 July 2013. For the last ten years of their existence, they were contracted to the Harmonia Mundi stable.

The Alban Berg Quartet excel in 18th-century repertory and the Franz Josef Haydn found here makes up an especially excellent example of this ensemble’s playing. The music is great, too: the two late Op. 77 Quartets quartets are what I believe are the finest examples he penned in this genre.

Although it is played on a period instrument, no one is arguing that this recording of Haydn's The Seven Last Words of Christ is historically authentic. The work, exceptionally in Haydn's output, exists in multiple versions, for orchestra, string quartet, chorus, and keyboard (either fortepiano or harpsichord). But surely Haydn did not have the instrument heard here, the rare tangent piano, in his head. This was, speaking roughly, a piano-harpsichord hybrid that never really found its footing in the late 18th century. As long as listeners are down with the idea of a fairly speculative recording, the effect of the tangent piano in this particular work is electrifying. Lubimov gets the best of both worlds: the intimacy of the keyboard version and the dynamic contrasts and timbral shadings of the orchestral original. The keyboard transcription is not by Haydn himself but was made in his own time, and he approved it. Lubimov works from this, tweaking it and adding contrasts that break up the seven consecutive slow movements and give them an extraordinarily expressive quality.