Vanhal: Symphonies, Vol. 2

The three symphonies by composer and music publisher Ignaz Pleyel featured on this disc illustrate the composer's strengths and weaknesses in equal measure. Pleyel's phrasing is Haydnesque overall, yet his all-too-frequent repetition of material, inelastic phrase lengths and formal squareness at times mar the composer's obvious melodic talent and contrapuntal ingenuity.
The Symphony in C major of 1778 is pleasant but otherwise unimpressive. The F minor symphony has a surprisingly Mozartian final movement, filled with playful caesuras and clever phrasings. Most impressive is the C minor, which from its operatic slow introduction to its rousing Presto never fails in the sureness of its harmonic and orchestral turns. This symphony's popularity in its day is illustrated by the unusually diverse number of publisher's arrangements of it, ranging from versions for 1 - 5 instruments to one for voice.

This disc received the 1999 Cannes Classical Award for "Best Orchestral Recording - 18th Century."

Any composer dubbed by Haydn as "one of the greatest geniuses I have met" deserves serious attention. One such was German-born Joseph Martin Kraus. Born the same year as Mozart (1756), Kraus survived him by a year, dying of tuberculosis at age 36. Remarkably, despite having lived in Sweden for less than eight years, he was befriended by King Gustavus III and became the country's greatest 18th century composer. That reputation is gaining wider endorsement today through a pioneering Kraus series on Naxos, of which this is the latest installment. The performers, as before, are the Swedish Chamber Orchestra under Petter Sundkvist, who continue to give exemplary readings of these remarkable if obscure late Classical symphonies.


Though the C-sharp minor and E minor works that open and close this program fully reflect the tastes and semantics of their era, the Symphony in C minor, subtitled "Symphonie funèbre", is an astonishing discovery. Written in April, 1792, following the assassination of Gustav III (the event inspired operas by Verdi and Auber and its political repercussions were felt throughout Europe), this is one of the most extraordinary musical valedictions to pre-date Beethoven's Eroica. All four movements are somber and slow-moving, and the use of timpani, solemn brass, and muted strings seem uncomfortably alien to a work of the period. This is an exceptionally fine account; Sundkvist's orchestra plays magnificently under his watchful direction, and the solo cello and horn in the chorale section of the finale sound suitably eloquent.


This disc also includes Kraus’ Overture in D minor (according to Haydn's friend Fredrik Silverstolpe, Swedish ambassador to Vienna, it was performed by mixed wind band at Good Friday services in Stockholm for many years) in its original instrumentation, the outcome of detailed reconstruction of Kraus' original manuscripts. Another surprise is the C # minor 'Sinfonia da camera'; the second section of its minuet is simply the first part played backwards (a trick Haydn himself tried on occasion)! As with previous releases, the Swedish Chamber Orchestra and Sundkvist, offer spirited and polished orchestral playing and a bright-well-balanced recording. Highly recommended.
--Michael Jameson, ClassicsToday.com

KRAUS: Symphonies, Vol. 2

KRAUS: Symphonies, Vol. 4

DUSSEK: Three Sinfonias

DITTERSDORF: Sinfonias

BACH, C.P.E. / BACH, W.F.: Sinfonias

Symphony No. 63 in D major is more elaborately scored, calling on pairs of oboes, clarinets, bassoons, horns, trumpets and timpani, as well as the inevitable strings. The first movement starts with a slow introduction, in it's emphatic unison once more characteristic of Mannheim. This leads to an Allegro in broadly classical form. Here another Mannheim effect, the disciplined crescendo for which the orchestra was famous, is marked in the surviving parts. The A major slow movement, marked Andante moderato, starts with a gently lilting oboe melody, taken up by the first violin. The strings provide a second element, in a related key, before the clarinet brings back the original theme, accompanied by the violins only. There is a shift to A minor, as the secondary material returns, but it is the first melody and key that finally prevails. The Presto is in classical tripartite form, with two contrasted subjects, a rather more extended development, and a final recapitulation, with the two subjects now both in D major. There is no slow introduction to start the first movement of Symphony No. 64 in F major, scored now for pairs of oboes, bassoons and horns, with the necessary strings, now in five parts, with first and second violas. The first subject of the opening Allegro makes use, as Mannheim composers often did, of the device of sequence, with the first phrase answered by a parallel phrase of the same outline. Again there are wide leaps in the first violin part, a related second subject in C major, with a use of woodwind and single strings, and an exciting, gradual crescendo. The central development is duly followed by the expected recapitulation, with a crescendo leading to the final coda. The slow movement, marked Andante and in B flat major, omits the French horns and offers contrasts of subject and key in it's first section, which later returns in recapitulation in the key of the movement. The symphony ends with a Presto that opens emphatically, in Mannheim style. As in the first movement, the oboes are entrusted with the presentation of the second subject. The development of this sonata-form movement finds room for a crescendo, a feature that precedes the final coda in the third section. Symphony No. 67 in G major makes use of a single flute, with pairs of oboes and horns, in addition to a four-part string section. The flute adds color to a repetition of the first subject and features prominently in the second. There are crescendi in both the development and the recapitulation. The following Andante con moto is in C major and the principal theme is entrusted to the strings alone, with the full entry of the wind instruments delayed until the A minor second half of the movement. The principal theme returns, followed now by an excursion into C minor, before it's definitive restatement in conclusion. Sequence is a feature of the first subject of the final Presto, with it's exploration of remoter keys and use of varied techniques and textures, which include the use of pizzicato strings and strong dynamic contrasts.

Includes cto(s) by Francesco Antoni Rosetti. Ensemble: New Brandenburg Philharmonic. Conductor: Nicolás Pasquet. Soloist: Albrecht Holder.

Marcello Giordani (birth name Marcello Guagliardo; born 25 January 1963) is an Italian operatic tenor who has sung leading roles in opera houses throughout Europe and the United States. He has had a distinguished association with the New York Metropolitan Opera,[1] where he has sung in over 170 performances since his debut there in 1993. (He is not to be confused with another Italian tenor, Massimo Giordano, who toured with Anna Netrebko in 2009.)

Includes suite(s) for rec by Georg Philipp Telemann. Ensemble: Cologne Chamber Orchestra. Conductor: Helmut Müller-Brühl. Soloist: Daniel Rothert.

Telemann: Recorder Suite in A minor - Viola Concerto - Tafel

TELEMANN: Musique de Table (Tafelmusik), Vol. 2