Classical Music

HAYDN: English Canzonettas

The year 2017 was a vintage one for Giovanni Antonini: he was awarded an Echo Klassik, two Gramophone Awards, and a Diapason d’Or of the Year for his recent releases. Two of these prizes were for his release ‘Il Distratto, volume 4’ of the complete recording of the Haydn symphonies on which he embarked for Alpha in 2014. For the sixth volume, released in 2018, the Milanese conductor is again joined by the Kammerorchester Basel, which shares the project with Il Giardino Armonico and which he knows very well, since he conducts it regularly and they have made many recordings together, including volume 5 of the Haydn series. This volume focuses on symphonies with a ‘sacred’ inspiration: the Symphony No. 26, ‘Lamentatione,’ was composed in 1768 for Holy Week, and no. 30 was nicknamed ‘Alleluja’ after the plainchant melody Haydn uses in it.

Includes trio(s) for strings by Franz Joseph Haydn. Ensemble: Rincontro. Soloists: Pablo Valetti, Petr Skalka, Patricia Gagnon.

Looking forward to the three hundredth anniversary of the birth of Haydn in 2032, the Joseph Haydn Stiftung Foundation of Basel has joined forces with the Alpha label to make a complete recording of the composer’s 107 symphonies. This ambitious project is placed under the artistic direction of Giovanni Antonini, who will share the recordings between his ensemble Il Giardino Armonico and the Basel Chamber Orchestra, which he conducts regularly. The aim is to celebrate one of the most significant and prolific composers in the history of music, who left us a rich oeuvre of more than three hundred works. Seeing the music of Haydn as ‘a kaleidoscope of the human emotions,’ Giovanni Antonini has decided to tackle the symphonies not in chronological order, but in thematically based programmes. Moreover, the Italian conductor believes it is important to establish links between these works and pieces written by other composers contemporary with Haydn of in some way connected with him. Hence, alongside his symphonies, each volume will include music by figures like Gluck, Porpora, CPE Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, and Michael Haydn. Beyond its status as a unique recording venture, Haydn 2032 will also bring together leading European concert halls, which will present these programmes to their audiences. From one season to another, the artists involved in the project will breathe new life into the music of this multifaceted composer for thousands of concertgoers in Switzerland, Germany, Austria and Italy. The present release is the fourth installment in this illustrious series.

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

If Joseph Haydn played a major role in the development of the symphony and string quartet, he was also and no less the virtual creator of the classical keyboard sonata. In wealth of musical invention and diversity of forms his sonatas surpass those of even Mozart and Beethoven. Although mostly less demanding technically, they are by no means easier to interpret. Their relatively modest demands in the way of virtuosity are more than made up for by the greater creative contribution they require from the player. Especially in the sonatas of his early and middle periods Haydn allowed considerable leeway to the interpreter in matters ranging from choice of ornaments to virtual invitations to interpolate free cadenzas. An intriguing challenge, but many pianists nowadays do not know how to cope with it. Schooled in later traditions, they cling to the printed text, never daring to make the contribution the composer took it for granted he could expect from the performer. Still, if Haydn placed considerable reliance on the player’s personal creative talent this never meant a blanket permission to alter the musical sense by changes foreign to the style of the time. In this release, legendary Viennese pianist Paul Badura-Skoda has recorded five piano masterworks by Joseph Haydn, on the occasion of the bicentenary of his death. His fortepiano from his own collection, which has been used for this recording and was built around 1790, is the most appropriate instrument available today for interpreting Haydn’s music.

Classical Music