# F J Haydn....what are your favorite Haydn recordings?



## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)

I'm a lover of Haydn's music. Maybe a Haydn nut. 
I was just wondering....what are your favorite recordings of Maestro Haydn?
Any category or genre.
Thanks :tiphat:


----------



## Chilham (Jun 18, 2020)

Isserlis' Cello Concertos with The Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, and pretty much any Haydn by Giovanni Antonini and Il Giardino Armonico.


----------



## Bulldog (Nov 21, 2013)

Piano Sonata no. 58 performed by Alfred Brendel.
String Quartets, op. 20 performed by the Salomon String Quartet
Symphonies nos. 82 and 104 conducted by Colin Davis
Cello Concerto no. 1 conducted by Hogwood, featuring Coin on cello.


----------



## Allegro Con Brio (Jan 3, 2020)

London symphonies - Davis/RCO
Complete symphonies - Adam Fischer
Piano sonatas - Derzhavina
Quartets - Auryn, Kodaly
The Creation - Gardiner
Masses - Bernstein


----------



## DarkAngel (Aug 11, 2010)

Marzendorfer is a really great set, the first complete studio recording of all Haydn symphonies from 1969, original tapes lost so these come from very clean vinyl and rarely expose their source media......Dorati set still very strong, by comparison these are a bit more energetic in general.....wasn't expecting much but this boxset really exceeded my expectations, true Haydn fans must own this.....

Pinnock's 6CD set of middle symphonies offers a modern HIP style that on repeated listens grows in stature, another must have

For complete quartets I prefer the robust rich sound of Buchberger, at bargain price level......










As mentioned above for keyboard sonatas the Derzhavina set is a modern reference....
Also love 4CD Brendel and various 2CD Hamelin sets


----------



## Rogerx (Apr 27, 2018)




----------



## Ulfilas (Mar 5, 2020)

For the symphonies, Kuijken's London Symphonies on DHM, all of Weil's recordings with Tafelmusik on Vivarte, and all of Harnoncourt's with CMV.

String Quartets I can't go past the Mosaïques.

I'm really enjoying Bavouzet's new Haydn cycle.


----------



## Kreisler jr (Apr 21, 2021)

Symphonies (naming only some special discs or small sets, the standard big boxes will be named anyway, I believe...)

- Any with Solomons you can find, unfortunately abolished and only partly on CD (esp. 39, 45, 48, 49). Rough, tough, small ensemble HIP
- Harnoncourt with Concentus musicus (Paris set, 6-8 and a bunch of early/middle symphonies, especially #31 "horn call")
- Orpheus CO with 22/80/63
- Bernstein's Paris set
- Rattle with 60/70/90
- Jacobs with 90/91 (two often overlooked pieces)
- Klemperer with 102/104

String quartets

- The box with the Angeles Q. has flaws but overall holds up quite well for a complete recording, if money is not an issue get everything separate and/or the Auryn Q
- Petersen op.1, sure, these are minor pieces but they get everything out of them
- Juilliard op.54 is only in one of their 1960s mixed boxes (likely to produce doubling), but it's worth it for this and their Mendelssohn and Schubert
- 2 anthologies with the Jerusalem Q, especially the one with op.20/5, 33/3, 76/5

Piano trios
- Of the two HIP cplt recordings many seem to prefer Trio 1790 (cpo) vs. Van Swieten (Brilliant), I think the differences are slight and there is nothing wrong with the latter if the former is difficult to acquire.
- 4 late trios with Levin/Bylsma/Beths (Sony Vivarte)
- Trio Fontenay recital
- Trio Wanderer (but I know only one of their 2 or more discs)

Piano sonatas
- Derzhavina's set has been mentioned
- If one likes historical keyboard, incl. harpsichord and clavichord, consider Schornsheim/capriccio
- Gould with the last 6 sonatas is one of his best recordings, quirky but convincing
- a recital with the then very young Lars Vogt (oop)
- Hamelin, in for him uncommon repertoire
- any Richter you can find although some of the later recordings can be a bit too slow and weighty
...

(I don't care too much for the concertos and it's been ages I listened sufficiently to the choral works to give recommendations, most of the oratorio recordings I encountered seemed quite good)


----------



## Triplets (Sep 4, 2014)

I was playing some of Brendel’s discs of the Piano music, a largely unknown territory for me so perhaps not relevant to this thread because it is new to me, but I was utterly charmed. Previous recordings of his Piano music hadn’t quite done it for me. My favorite Haydn set is the Sturm und Drang symphony box by Trevor Pinnock, but I also really enjoy Hogwood as well, particularly in the London. I remain partial to the Kodaly Qt recordings as well.


----------



## Kreisler jr (Apr 21, 2021)

The Pinnock Sturm & Drang set is very good, maybe the best bet, if sound and everything is considered. I sometimes prefer the edgier or just different recordings by Solomons or Brüggen but Pinnock is a much safer recommendation.
I find the 4 Haydn discs with Brendel uneven. Most is good to very good but the famous c minor sonata is a bit lame.


----------



## Heck148 (Oct 27, 2016)

Bernstein/NYPO - Paris symphonies
My favorite single Haydn disc -

Reiner Sym 88 CSO- amazing...
Syms 95, 101 RCA SO (last recordings made by Reiner)


----------



## DarkAngel (Aug 11, 2010)

Kreisler jr said:


> Symphonies (naming only some special discs or small sets, the standard big boxes will be named anyway, I believe...)
> 
> - *Any with Solomons you can find*, unfortunately abolished and only partly on CD (esp. 39, 45, 48, 49). Rough, tough, small ensemble HIP
> - Harnoncourt with Concentus musicus (Paris set, 6-8 and a bunch of early/middle symphonies, especially #31 "horn call")
> ...


Very hard to find in CD format, would be a great candidate for new budget price Sony boxset release of all available Solomon recordings of Haydn symphonies


----------



## wkasimer (Jun 5, 2017)

I couldn't agree more about the Derek Solomons recordings. I have them on LP, and keep hoping that Sony will issue them complete.

Some personal favorites, in addition to some mentioned previously:I

I love all of Brüggen's Haydn:








David Blum didn't record much, but this is a great CD with one of my favorite symphonies, No. 60








One of the best recordings of any Haydn quartets:








There are many fine recordings of the cello concertos, but this has always been my go-to recording:


----------



## Kreisler jr (Apr 21, 2021)

I have been hoping for a Solomons box set for years and don't expect it to manifest physically. Sony was burned (or mismanaged) another Haydn series (Weil which I found not as distinctive, only/mainly fast and lean but I only had the Paris set and they put them into a box a few years ago.)
AFAIK there were two or three of the CBS boxes like shown above in the 1980s and later several single budget discs that are probably the easiest to get nowadays. 

I have one 3 disc box similar to the one above with 42,51,45,46,47,65 and two "Sony digital club" (a mid-1990s budget series) with 39/45/59 and 26/48/49.


----------



## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

The *Festetics* quartet cycle
The *Hogwood* symphony box
The *Trio 1790* cycle of piano trios
The Virtual Haydn box of keyboard sonatas by *Tom Beghin*


----------



## Chatellerault (Apr 4, 2017)

Masses and other Choral works - Harnoncourt/Concentus Musicus Wien/Schonberg Chor (6CD)

This box features 4 of the 6 late Masses (all composed after Haydn's return from London and when Mozart was already dead), one secular cantata, two Te Deum etc.
Other good recording of some Masses in 2 CDs by Pinnock/English Concert. 
Both are HIP/original instruments but Pinnock sounds more rough and Harnoncourt more polished. Both with great recorded sound and enough drama and timpani in the "in Tempore Belli" (times of war) and "Nelson" masses - these ones are from revolutionary times, I can't stand recordings where they sound more galant like early Haydn.


----------



## Forster (Apr 22, 2021)

Allegro Con Brio said:


> London symphonies - Davis/RCO


This, and Paris symphonies by Kujiken/OAE

Truth to tell, they are my _only _Haydn recordings!


----------



## Kreisler jr (Apr 21, 2021)

I looked it up on discogs. It is frustrating. Solomons recorded no less than 7 3-LP-sets, so more than 40 symphonies. Two sets with early (Morzin, before Esterhazy) symphonies were on a different label, but 5 on CBS. I think only 3 of these have been on CD for a short time in the 1980s. Maybe they sold so poorly, that Sony never bothered. They are a bit extreme, while Hogwood has a similar small ensemble for some symphonies his interpretations are milder (to put it mildly), so I could imagine them almost shocking in the early 1980s. 
The little period instrument Haydn on records back then was often more of the Collegium Aureum variety who used old instruments but a "warm" playing style not much different from the modern style and the more daring HIP musicians like Harnoncourt or Goebel had not arrived at Haydn.


----------



## DarkAngel (Aug 11, 2010)

Kreisler jr said:


> I looked it up on discogs. It is frustrating. Solomons recorded no less than 7 3-LP-sets, so more than 40 symphonies. Two sets with early (Morzin, before Esterhazy) symphonies were on a different label, but 5 on CBS. I think only 3 of these have been on CD for a short time in the 1980s. Maybe they sold so poorly, that Sony never bothered. They are a bit extreme, while Hogwood has a similar small ensemble for some symphonies his interpretations are milder (to put it mildly), so I could imagine them almost shocking in the early 1980s.
> The little period instrument Haydn on records back then was often more of the Collegium Aureum variety who used old instruments but a "warm" playing style not much different from the modern style and the more daring HIP musicians like Harnoncourt or Goebel had not arrived at Haydn.


Was just checking Solomons vs Marzendorfer in famous Haydn 48 - Maria Theresa

Solomons has very fast but small/light brass sound, Marzendorfer is less fast but larger richer
brass sound (more like Dorati), his group VCO probably larger in number......


----------

