Haydn's violin concertos - all early works composed before 1765 — have suddenly become very popular. These two are for string orchestra only, to which Pinchas Zukerman (soloist and conductor) has added a harpsichord continuo — also in the Symphony No. 22. Nowadays the presence or absence of a harpsichord continuo in Haydn's concertos and symphonies can be a cause for divorce: a huge quantity of ink has been spilt of late over this vexed question. It seems likely, after all, that most of the time Haydn conducted his early symphonies from the violin and that there was no harpsichord continuo. Having said that, Zukerman's continuo is most discreet and musical (the improvisations in the slow movement of the C major Concerto are delightful), and will offend only pedants. Even the cadenzas, by Marc Neikrug in the C major and Philipp Scharwenka in the G major, are inoffensive. The performances of the two concertos are stylish and warmhearted. I found the very slow tempo for the opening Adagio of the Philosopher Symphony unsatisfactory, pleasing though the performance is: it makes the music sluggish and robs it of a certain element of mystery. But if you are going to use a harpsichord in an early Haydn symphony, this is how to do it — no fancy faked amplification and great discretion, almost self-effacing. The sound is elegant.

-- HC Robbins Landon, BBC Music Magazine

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"Leonard Slatkin's series of Haydn London Symphonies brings fresh, refined readings at speeds that never sound breathless. There is wit from the Philharmonia woodwind and the string phrasing always gives pleasure."

-- Penguin Guide [2003/4 Edition] Reviewing RCA 68003

This disc completes Slatkin’s survey of the “London” Symphonies and confirms his credentials as an urbane and attentive Haydn interpreter. No. 95, the least favoured of the set, and No. 97 come off particularly well. With no hint of ponderousness, Slatkin brings an imposing breadth and weight to the first movement and Minuet of No. 95, while the brilliant contrapuntal sallies in the finale (Haydn’s tribute to Mozart’s Jupiter?) gain much from the division of the violins left and right. The aggressively extrovert Vivace that opens No. 97 has a fine snap and thrust to its rhythms, the mounting tensions of the development powerfully realized; and Slatkin clearly relishes the strut and swagger of the Minuet and the comic bravado of the finale. Here and elsewhere the playing of the Philharmonia is alert and refined, with delectable work from the woodwind. In the slow movements of both these symphonies Slatkin phrases warmly and graciously, bringing out the felicities of Haydn’s part-writing – as at the opening of No. 95’s Andante, or in the chromatic coda (4'29''). RCA’s recordings combine clarity with ample body and presence.

-- Richard Wigmore, Gramophone [6/1998]

It is difficult to ascertain how many horn concertos Joseph Haydn and his younger brother Michael actually wrote. Certain works are lost; others are erroneously ascribed, or their authenticity at least doubtful. One of the concertos has even been ascribed by different musicologists to Joseph and to Michael Haydn, but it may have been written by another person entirely. The two brothers wrote most of their concertos for the widest variety of solo instruments, but usually in the same type of situation: i.e. once they had assumed important posts at the head of renowned court orchestras. Joseph Haydn became Kapellmeister for the Esterhazy princes in 1761, and Michael became concertmaster of the Salzburg archdiocese court orchestra in 1763. The court musicians in both orchestras were virtuosos in their own right, and one of the tasks of a Kapellmeister consisted in composing new works that permitted them to display their outstanding abilities in the presence of their sovereigns.

HAYDN: THE SEASONS KEGEL, ADA

This selection is a DSD (Direct Stream Digital) recording.

8 DIVERTIMENTOS

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SYMPHONIES 100 & 104

This CD includes additional tracks of spoken commentary by musicologist H. C. Robbins Landon on Missa "Sunt bona mixta malis" in English, German and French.

HAYDN: SYMPHONIES NOS 93, 95 &

Emanuel Ax has made the Haydn sonatas his own in recent years; certainly few "major label" pianists have bothered to explore these delightful works systematically, and Sony deserves credit for supporting him in his efforts. The results certainly make a powerful case for following where the artist leads (when, as here, the artist knows where he is going), for both this and Ax's previous Haydn discs have been excellent in all respects, and he has been very enterprising in his mixture of familiar and unfamiliar works.

The sonatas included here offer a typically broad representation of Haydn's range as a keyboard composer. The most famous of them is No. 49 in C-sharp minor, with its tragic minuet finale (here played with a powerful sense of barely muted grief). No other composer lavished so much attention on this simple dance form and discovered in it so much variety of expression. Note how appropriately Ax varies the pace of this dark piece as compared to the jaunty minuet finale of Sonata No. 34 in D.

Two sonatas in A-flat major, Nos. 31 and 35, open and close the program. No. 31 is a big work (nearly 20 minutes) and Ax plays it as such, with the bold contrasts of the broadly paced first movement and brilliant finale enfolding a poetic central Adagio. The concluding A-flat sonata brings the program to a very satisfying conclusion, its Moderato-Minuet-Presto sequence of movements providing a steady acceleration of excitement that Ax takes particular care to project effectively.

As a centerpiece, there's the big E-flat major Sonata No. 29, and here Ax avoids possible monotony between the opening Moderato and the ensuing Andante of nearly equal length. It's a beautifully paced performance, with a particularly jubilant account of the concluding Allegro di molto, one of Haydn's biggest sonata finales. The high-level recording sounds a touch bright in the loudest passages, but otherwise richly supports a program that will give listeners unalloyed pleasure.

--David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com