BaL 17.09.11 - Haydn: Symphony no. 100 "Military"

[MickyD]

Not 'lots', a few:
94 ('Surprise') & 95 coupled with the original version of the L. Mozart 'Toy symphony, in G rather than C : Nimbus NI 5126
31 ( 'Hornsignal') with a couple of those rather dubious horn concertos: NI 5190

Yes, I am very fond of these discs, well worth seeking out.

[Brassbandmaestro]

There was also a AAM/Hogwood disc of the Military and London symphonies, long before the orchestra got under way with their tragically incomplete cycle.

Wasn't that due to some internal problems?

[waldhorn]

"Internal problems?"

Would that be Gastric Flu of the HIP?

[rauschwerk]

Wasn't that due to some internal problems?

I have always believed that the CDs weren't selling in sufficient numbers, so the record company pulled the plug. The same happened with Goodman's Hyperion cycle.

[MickyD]

You're right, Rauschwerk....there just wasn't the market for several complete cycles. At the time, Sony was also undertaking one with Bruno Weil. The really sad thing was that Hogwood's got as far as being two thirds complete (more than that, actually, if you include his previous separate recordings of 94, 96, 100 and 104). Avid collectors like myself were suddenly left up the creek, having faithfully bought each box as they were issued. I know economics rule everything, but I have never forgiven Decca for their brutal decision!

[verismissimo]

The only recorded Haydn symphonies that I find I'm completely allergic to are Bruno Weil's. I think it's partly the complete lack of harpsichords.

[waldhorn]

Then you must be allergic to Hogwood / AAM...?
Surely it's not so black-and-white, this harpsichord issue?
A very practical line was taken in the Solomons recordings ( sadly another abandoned cycle) in which, as I understand it, Robbins Landon advised the use of a harpsichord only up to and including 26 ( Lamentatione) but not after that.

[aeolium]

A very practical line was taken in the Solomons recordings ( sadly another abandoned cycle) in which, as I understand it, Robbins Landon advised the use of a harpsichord only up to and including 26 ( Lamentatione) but not after that.

Though that in itself is not as straightforward as it appears, since no 26 is misleadingly numbered, being composed around the time of the early Sturm und Drang symphonies. Also the scores for other S&D symphonies such as the Trauer and no 52 in C minor indicate a continuo. Personally, I have a soft spot for the recordings of the Little Orchestra of London under Leslie Jones, and David Blum's Esterhazy orchestra - both pre-HIPP though I think both using a harpsichord continuo.

[verismissimo]

You're quite right, Waldhorn. My real problem with the Weils is that they are so hard driven and spotlit. Like having your teeth drilled. The absence of harpsichord only axecerbates that problem for me.

Jones, Blum, Solomons - all deeply joyful!

[aeolium]

Jones, Blum, Solomons - all deeply joyful!

Some of those Sturm und Drang symphonies are not exactly joyful, verismissimo - but I know what you mean