Two New Haydn Releases
Haydn’s symphonies didn’t speak to me as directly, I found, as much as baroque literature did; I’d have taken, growing up, a Corelli concerto grosso over a Haydn symphony any day, even maybe, one performed by the likes of an I Musici. Then I eventually stumbled into and purchased the English Concert set of Haydn’s Stürm und Drang symphonies, a set that was unified by a lot of more engaging writing that, well, I could better relate to. Under Pinnock and violinist Simon Standage, the ensemble’s sound was tight, tidy, and had just enough of that raw energy that defines the stürm and drang movement.
In this review, I took two different recordings of different material separately from HIPP ensembles, which brought to light some interesting findings regarding contemporary performance of Haydn’s symphonies. In any case, they both come highly recommended.
Haydn Symphonies nos. 43 & 49 • Podger
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
On the first album we get a reading of two of these “storm and stress” style works by Haydn, the Mercury and Passione symphonies performed by the Canadian Tafelmusik. This particular recording is guest led by performing violinist Rachel Podger, I think the foremost active British HIPP violinist today. I’d seen an earlier preview video of them together, so when this came out this month, I was like “finally.”
Tafelmusik was founded some time ago by the great Jeanne Lamon, with whom made many recordings. I still remember seeing them in the 1990s and remember that the entire ensemble wasn’t capable of performing at an equally high level. Boy, some things get better over time. This album, of live recordings, has excellent intonation and a gorgeous sound, and I was left in want of nothing more from any one of the sections. This not only speaks to the ensemble itself, but also of Podger’s musical direction.
Many of Haydn’s earlier symphonies are constructed in a familiar four-movement form: Fast, slow, dances, fast. La Passione is different, starting with a long Adagio before the fire is lit in the second movement’s Allegro di molto. For audiences of the time, who knows, that might have been a surprise, aside from Haydn’s so-called Surprise Symphony.
The Tafelmusik sound includes the unmistakable tingle in the bass of harpsichord continuo, which I will add was used by Pinnock in the aforementioned set. The video of Podger performing with the ensemble settles the decision whether you need a conductor up front. And with these earlier works, especially, they work well by an all-performing ensemble.
In the opening of the E-flat major symphony, there’s a lot of energy and dynamic intensity, too, but it’s not full-bore. I like Podger’s direction, again, bringing contrast, and even playing with some pregnant pauses. There are some rather big gestures to be had in the recapitulation in the first movement that while well done, don’t quite take on the same boldness as we get in the interpretations by Antonini is the second album. I am not comparing apples to apples, but as far as a fruit comparison goes, one is well carved and the other has been carved to the point of becoming unquestionable art.
The Adagio in the E-flat symphony is attached to a great tempo, I think; the melody doesn’t linger for too long. Instead, it has a nice shape. Yet, it does clock in at 11:45 with the music repeated. The nearly muted sound of the strings from Tafelmusik are a great sound, providing a soft texture that is palpable and consistent, which you’ll hear again in the fifth track. However, unlike the example below from Antonini, Podger’s interpretation is on the colder side of being inventive or dynamically adventurous. Yes, Haydn does write in contrast himself, but damn, this feels long in the tooth. I can’t really put this criticism on Tafelmusik or its guest director, however, I’d explore a couple of options if it was me: can I play with orchestration (one per part, versus a section), bolder dynamic constrasts, or even dropping a repeat? (Did I say that?)
The contrasts written by Haydn for the F minor symphony, and their reaction to them, for me are a better balance for the ten-minute opening Adagio for that symphony.
Haydn Symphonies nos. 98, 94, 90 • Antonini
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
In the second album, we see evidence of Haydn’s maturity with symphonic form, providing a slow introduction to each of the three works presented as a continuation of Giovanni Antonini’s Haydn 2032 project: Symphony no. 98, no. 94 (the so-called Surprise or Drumstroke), and no. 90 (Letter R). The style of these later symphonies is a departure from the ones on the Tafelmusik disc.
The G major symphony, which I knew about growing up in elementary school because of its second movement, enjoys a lot of great transparency around the instruments and the acoustical space; there’s reverb, but everything manages to have some clarity, no matter the dynamics. When I switched to headphones, I also noticed some significant bass presence, which I thought was a delight, from the strike of timpani, to the lower strings, the full gamut of the orchestra was represented.
The confusing part for me about Antonini’s latest album is “who is the orchestra?” The liner notes mention both groups responsible for this series, the Kammerorchester Basel and Il Giardino Armonico. My best guess is that the players listed make up a kind of “combined” ensemble. The use in the booklet of different colors to identify the players is an exercise in bad design, as one doesn’t want to use only color to make differentiations; in this case, the two colors, dark green and black, are difficult to distinguish, even with good eyes. As usual with this series, the booklet includes multiple images that are inspired by the production.
The good sound on this album of course isn’t unique to the “Surprise” symphony. I especially liked the freshness in the opening to the C major symphony and of special note is the delicious timbre of the winds. This movement is one that is finely wrought, with great detail, but under a different conductor, might have come across pedestrian. Antonini’s artistic style, which is born out of a lot of dynamic contrasts I think are good for Haydn. I know some may see his style as infusing a little more storm and stress into Haydn’s later works, but no matter, for me I enjoy these contrasts. This should not be surprising, I fell in love with them through his many recordings of baroque literature on Teldec.
I still do struggle sometimes in Papa Haydn’s slower movements. When those _Andante_s come calling, I often reach for the remote to move things along and ahead. Many times the melodic material is too polite, and they meander, under a leader who has no desire to bring dynamic intensity to an andante. In the C major symphony, well, I did audition the Andante, of course, and was pleased both by Antonini’s push behind keeping the melody going and also bringing the requisite dynamic contrast out without fear. Maybe—the effect is not perhaps shocking as when it comes in the aforementioned symphony, but it’s well done, certainly in good taste. The flute solo that appears at the half-way point is delicious, rendered on a copy of a period flute.
The C major symphony’s Minuet and Trio is as festively appointed as one might want for a room full of dancers. The Finale, marked Allegro assai, carries the very festive mood forward. What a treat, I think, to hear Haydn performed this way, when I think back to the earlier effort of Hogwood and the Academy of Ancient Music, with whom I’d started collecting with during their limited run on Decca’s HIPP label. Antonini’s vision, I think, is often bold, but here I don’t think anything is overdone. Instead, as ever what I like to discover, is an interpreter that seems metaphorically to have swept all the dust from an old manuscript, bringing us something in such sure technicolor intensity that we hear it anew. The wind section from the Basel orchestra is on top form, from the bassoons through to the horns. I might dare to say this is among their finest Haydn releases yet. I may also be a bit spoiled auditioning this release on a brand new set of replacement headphones that came. But yes, the sound of this recording is a near ideal as well.
The Antonini disc ends, as they are sometimes ought to do, with a work or two not by Haydn. This time it’s Rosini, which of course is about 20 years later in chronology. The six minute work is the symphony from La Scala di Seta. The sound of the horn, for me, is notably different, unsure if they changed instruments for this later work. It’s an interesting contrast in style, for sure, and one can likely hear the connection to storm and stress, as Rossini is known to dig into in his opera overtures. Interesting is his writing for the winds, providing some challenge, if you were, but innovation comes with time, no doubt. If you consider this disc a concert performance, yes, Rossini is a different flavor, but it works wonderfully as an encore. And they rise, I think, to the technical challenge.
Final Thoughts
The Tafelmusik album has great sound, which is praise both for the orchestra all around and the engineering team who made this recording. The interpretations for me work the best in Haydn’s faster movements. The musical gestures under Podger’s direction aren’t ignored (take the Minuet-Trio from the F minor symphony), but they are also not as warm as the ones rendered by Antonini. Some may like their Haydn this way, but in the case of repeating figures, in there’s room for some more variation and given Haydn’s melodic material and how he bolsters it with orchestration, I found opportunities taken in the Haydn 2032 production that were just ultimately more satisfying.
But the closing to the F minor symphony under Podger? Man, that band is tight!
Luckily, you don’t have to choose between these albums, as they both present different works. And for Antonini’s tighter and at times more inventive interpretation and the even more transparent sound in the Alpha production, not to mention its far more generous timing, I thought it deserved one more ‘star.’ That said, these are both well-done productions for Haydn fans.
