# What are the best complete symphony collections for Mozart and Haydn?



## Queen of the Nerds

What's your opinion? Why do you like it?


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde

For Mozart: Adam Fischer. Mozart was an operatic composer, in my opinion, and the real drama of his music comes out best in the 45 symphony box set that Fischer conducted. If Rene Jacobs records the rest of Mozart's symphonies after he completes the operas, then I would say that is a must have. :tiphat:


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## Musicophile

For Haydn, this looks like it could become one of the best boxes out there. Unfortunately you'll need to wait another 17 years for it to complete, but vol. 1 and 2 are seriously good:

http://www.outhere-music.com/en/pos...e-with-giovanni-antonini-il-giardino-armonico

For Mozart, I'm a big fan of Mackerras. He's done a complete box with Prague, and selected with the Scottish, the latter is even better.


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## Lord Lance

Oh, come on, no this again. There is no _best_. And certainly no best *box sets. *

Depends on you. Modern? Period? Hybrid slanted towards period? Hybrid slanted towards modern? Sound quality preferences? Thoroughness? Which modern/period do you enjoy?

For thoroughness: Hogwood.
For joyous playing: Mackerass
For historically important: Leinsdorf
For soaring, beautiful string tone: Levine
For warm, romantic full blown playing: Bohm
For hybrid: Fischer
For lovers of Snail Pace: Harnoncourt's Early Symphonies
My personal favorite for last six: Karajan/BPO [For 28 and 38, his recordings from the 1980s]
Idiosyncratic Mozart: Leonard Bernstein/VPO


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## SixFootScowl

Beethoven: Szell. It is one of the highest rated cycles and one of the few complete cycles with a very good Ninth. It also is available in a box set at very reasonable price:


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## poconoron

For Mozart I like both the Pinnock and Tate sets.

http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Moza...=1436468340&sr=1-4&keywords=mozart+symphonies

http://www.amazon.com/Mozart-Comple...1436468559&sr=1-12&keywords=mozart+symphonies


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## Vito Lattarulo

Definitely Hogwood!


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## SixFootScowl

Mendelssohn: Abbado. There are a couple older sets (some at very reasonable used prices) and this new release later this month which includes the violin concerto:


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## Itullian

Haydn, Dorati
Mozart, Bohm, Marriner(Philips)


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## Steatopygous

Lord Lance said:


> Oh, come on, no this again. There is no _best_. And certainly no best *box sets. *
> 
> Depends on you. Modern? Period? Hybrid slanted towards period? Hybrid slanted towards modern? Sound quality preferences? Thoroughness? Which modern/period do you enjoy?
> 
> For thoroughness: Hogwood.
> For joyous playing: Mackerass
> For historically important: Leinsdorf
> For soaring, beautiful string tone: Levine
> For warm, romantic full blown playing: Bohm
> For hybrid: Fischer
> For lovers of Snail Pace: Harnoncourt's Early Symphonies
> My personal favorite for last six: Karajan/BPO [For 28 and 38, his recordings from the 1980s]
> Idiosyncratic Mozart: Leonard Bernstein/VPO


Excellent answer. No one can be equally excellent across 100 symphonies, or even nine. But you left off the really fine conductor who, as far as I know, was first to attempt the lot and through whom I first encountered most of the symphonies: Antal Dorati. I've also just acquired a32-CD set of Hogwood with AAM, only a few of which I had heard. Your characterisation seems right: he is even, reliable, faithful and quite fresh, but he doesn't set them alight.


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## Steatopygous

Itullian said:


> Haydn, Dorati
> Mozart, Bohm, Marriner(Philips)


Well said. Close to my first choices, too.


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## realdealblues

Itullian said:


> Haydn, Dorati
> Mozart, Bohm, Marriner(Philips)


Same for me. If you want all of Haydn's Symphonies in a box set Dorati is king.

If you want all of Mozart's Symphonies in a box set get Bohm if you want lush, full bodied, warm Mozart. Marriner if you want snappy, tight, light Mozart.


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## Lord Lance

Steatopygous said:


> Excellent answer. No one can be equally excellent across 100 symphonies, or even nine. But you left off the really fine conductor who, as far as I know, was first to attempt the lot and through whom I first encountered most of the symphonies: Antal Dorati. I've also just acquired a32-CD set of Hogwood with AAM, only a few of which I had heard. Your characterisation seems right: he is even, reliable, faithful and quite fresh, but he doesn't set them alight.


I think the post made it quite clear that my remark was directed at Mozarat's symphonies. No Haydn expert. I enjoy Davis, Bernstein, Karajan, Dorati, Fischer in Haydn.


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## Steatopygous

Lord Lance said:


> I think the post made it quite clear that my remark was directed at Mozarat's symphonies. No Haydn expert. I enjoy Davis, Bernstein, Karajan, Dorati, Fischer in Haydn.


Actually, it wasn't clear to me. No composer is named until the last choice. But naturally I accept what you say. Easy mistake; my apologies.


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## Lord Lance

Steatopygous said:


> Actually, it wasn't clear to me. No composer is named until the last choice. But naturally I accept what you say. Easy mistake; my apologies.


Ah, no worries. All is forgiven.


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## SixFootScowl

I will note from a broader perspective that IMO the best two symphony cycles are Beethoven's and Mendelssohn's. To me they are the crowning cycles, all other composers' cycles fall below these. I do have a cycle of Brahms, of mixed conductorship, but rarely listen to it.


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## Haydn man

I feel that the Dorati set of Haydn has a special place in classical music recording history. It was, I believe the first complete set of the symphonies and shows incredible consistency in the performances. 
It can be had for very little money now and will provide many hours of pleasure


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## Bix

Haydn man said:


> I feel that the Dorati set of Haydn has a special place in classical music recording history. It was, I believe the first complete set of the symphonies and shows incredible consistency in the performances.
> It can be had for very little money now and will provide many hours of pleasure


It can be had for around £100

But I agree, tis great all the same.


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## Bix

I'm going to put a suggestion out there which may not surprise some of you but the Shostakovich cycle by RLPO and Petrenko is superb.


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## joen_cph

Märzendorfer actually made the first complete Haydn symphonies set on the Oryx label, rarely mentioned and rarely heard about nowadays.

http://www.haydnhouse.com/Maerzendorfer Haydn.htm

_"The first attempt, under Max Goberman (CBS), was brought short by the conductor's early death, while the first actually to be completed, under Ernst Märzendorfer, had such limited distribution that most people have never even heard of it."_
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2006/Jan06/Haydn_1-5_8557571.htm#ixzz3foCwqXua

_"The earliest set to be issued was conducted by Ernst Märzendorfer who displayed great insight. Märzendorfer seemed particularly at home in the more fully-scored works. This is the most interesting and challenging of these rival sets. I regret Märzendorfer's omission of keyboard continuo, especially in earlier symphonies"_
http://www.classicalsource.com/db_control/db_features.php?id=7862


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## trazom

I prefer Mackerras for the complete Mozart set, and his recording with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra for the late symphonies.


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## SixFootScowl

Florestan said:


> I will note from a broader perspective that IMO the best two symphony cycles are Beethoven's and Mendelssohn's. To me they are the crowning cycles, all other composers' cycles fall below these. I do have a cycle of Brahms, of mixed conductorship, but rarely listen to it.


Augggh! The frustrations of coming into a thread from the "New Posts" listing. It cut off the essential part about Mozart and Haydn so i assumed it was cycles in general. Sorry. Need to scroll to top and check first.


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## Scififan

For Haydn I like Dorati and the Philharmonia Hungarica. I've had the cycle for years and still get pleasure from it. I have it in vinyl and CD but the 35 discs can be downloaded from iTunes for €60. 

There are loads of interesting suggestions on this thread but a set I enjoy is: Mozart: Complete Symphonies / Jaap Ter Linden, Mozart Akademie Amsterdam.


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## Bix

Florestan said:


> Augggh! The frustrations of coming into a thread from the "New Posts" listing. It cut off the essential part about Mozart and Haydn so i assumed it was cycles in general. Sorry. Need to scroll to top and check first.


I've done the same thing, rabbiting on about Shostakovich


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## KenOC

No problem about Shostakovich. Everybody knows he was a lot better than Mozart or Beethoven . Agree on Petrenko BTW.


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## SARDiver

Another vote for the Dorati cycle of Haydn.


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## DebussyDoesDallas

joen_cph said:


> Märzendorfer actually made the first complete Haydn symphonies set on the Oryx label, rarely mentioned and rarely heard about nowadays.
> 
> http://www.haydnhouse.com/Maerzendorfer Haydn.htm
> 
> _"The first attempt, under Max Goberman (CBS), was brought short by the conductor's early death, while the first actually to be completed, under Ernst Märzendorfer, had such limited distribution that most people have never even heard of it."_
> http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2006/Jan06/Haydn_1-5_8557571.htm#ixzz3foCwqXua
> 
> _"The earliest set to be issued was conducted by Ernst Märzendorfer who displayed great insight. Märzendorfer seemed particularly at home in the more fully-scored works. This is the most interesting and challenging of these rival sets. I regret Märzendorfer's omission of keyboard continuo, especially in earlier symphonies"_
> http://www.classicalsource.com/db_control/db_features.php?id=7862


This is true. Through a combination of luck and obsessiveness, I've managed to collect the entire Marzendorfer cycle on LP in a few fell swoops. I haven't listened to all of it--as nor have I listened to every note of all the Haydn boxes I own--but I like a lot of what I've heard. This cycle seems unlikely to find release on CD, however--Dorati and Fischer are way better. Those two are tied for best in my book. (And I've heard at least some of ALL the complete or near-complete cycles.)


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## KirbyH

I strongly suggest Dorati for the Haydn - I don't listen to Haydn a whole lot but I've found that everything in the box is at the very worst solid and at the best riveting. It's not like it was Mahler or Bruckner - but maybe that isn't a bad thing.

Speaking of, Mahler wise I trust James Levine's mostly complete cycle - spread between Chicago, Philadelphia, and London - on RCA more than anything. I have yet to hear a better reading of the 3rd. Bruckner of course you can't go wrong with Karajan.

For Brahms, I actually recommend Simon Rattle and the Berlin Phil. Of those "classical" composers, I think Rattle shows the most affinity for Brahms. It's clear he loves the music and to hear the modern Berlin Phil playing on home turf is wonderful. And yes, I'll say it - I prefer it to any of the cycles that Karajan laid down with them.

That's just my two bits


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## Arsakes

For Haydn:

Nikolaus Harnoncourt for 12 London symphonies. For the rest Adam Fischer's collection minus the 12 London symphonies I think.


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## BartokPizz

ComposerOfAvantGarde said:


> For Mozart: Adam Fischer. Mozart was an operatic composer, in my opinion, and the real drama of his music comes out best in the 45 symphony box set that Fischer conducted. If Rene Jacobs records the rest of Mozart's symphonies after he completes the operas, then I would say that is a must have. :tiphat:


Rene Jacobs's Mozart symphonies are the pits. Sorry.


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## doctorcdf

Pinnock's Mozart symphonies haven't let me down yet -


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## Vaneyes

Best complete? Whatever's available as complete, I s'pose. Can't be that many truly complete. No matter, "complete" is not necessarily a requirement of mine.

I enjoy and own about the last half of *WAM*'s output: EMI ASMF/Marriner 24 - 34; DG BPO/HvK 35 - 41.

Re *Haydn*, several: St. Luke's Chamber Ensemble 6 - 8; Selected "Sturm & Drang" with Goodman, Litkov; the laters "Paris", "London", etc. are divided amongst Kuijken, Szell, ACO/Harnoncourt. :tiphat:


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## DebussyDoesDallas

I've been sampling the Adam Fischer Mozart "45 Symphonies" on Spotify and really like what I hear. I need another box set like I need a hole in the head, but I'm a little lacking in quality Mozart symphony sets--I have only the Hogwood, the Complete Brilliant Mozart box, Karajan on LP (not my fave), and a selection of Mackeras.


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## CnC Bartok

If anyone is interested, the Marzendorfer complete Haydn is coming out on 33CDs next month. I have read variable comments about their quality, some rating them way above (even!) Dorati, others describing them as "ok for the time, but......"


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## Rmathuln

CnC Bartok said:


> If anyone is interested, the Marzendorfer complete Haydn is coming out on 33CDs next month. I have read variable comments about their quality, some rating them way above (even!) Dorati, others describing them as "ok for the time, but......"
> 
> View attachment 115902


Got it a few weeks ago from Japan actually.
What I have listened to so far sounds well transferred, especially for the price compared to Pristine's CDs.

If it had to be one Haydn cycle I would right now probably go with Dorati (oh, how I wish UMG would remaster those at 192K and put them on a few BluRay Audio disks!). But that is mainly because the Alpha Haydn 2032 set is still in its infancy stages.

For Mozart Pinnock is choice number one.
But unmentioned so far has been the Levine VPO set on DG. 
These are on modern instruments with period-size forces.
I have not found a bad one yet.
Very pleased.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00OZ1QD5Q/


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## Common Listener

Rmathuln said:


> For Mozart Pinnock is choice number one.
> But unmentioned so far has been the Levine VPO set on DG.
> These are on modern instruments with period-size forces.
> I have not found a bad one yet.
> Very pleased.


I recently sprang for Tate/ECO's complete Mozart symphonies but my loose late symphonies were mostly of those Levine/WPOs and I like them, too.

Speaking of complete sets, it seems like everyone here listens to every box set out there and own dozens (or hundreds!) of them. Is this the case or do people like me usually just not say much?  I'd been limping along with Mozart's early symphonies on a box of LPs and most of the rest on random CDs until I finally couldn't stand not having a unified complete set so, in conjunction with Amazon price listings, I sampled some on youtube (using mostly parts of Symphonies Nos. 29 & 40 and some 41) to decide which _one_ I wanted based on a sound/cost combo. My notes say I checked out:

Arigoni/Filarmonica Italiana
Bohm/Berlin
Levine/Vienna
Linden/Amsterdam
Mackerras/Prague
Marriner/ASMF-Krips/RCO
Pinnock/English Concert
Tate/English
Ward/Northern Chamber Orchestra-Wordsworth/Capella Istropolitana

And that's all I could manage. My snap-judgment notes really slag the Arigoni in a way I won't repeat, found the Bohm almost Karajanesquely heavy, the Linden good but sparse, the Krips half of the Krips/Marriner a little academic and too expensive anyway, the Ward/Wordsworth surprisingly adequate but uninspired, the Mackerras okay but so fast it sounded like a guy falling down the stairs (and I like fast so this was _really_ fast). The Pinnock was also too expensive for me (but you may be right about it) and the Tate (what little I could find to sample) was Goldilocks - not too fast or slow, not too heavy or light, and with some zest (and affordability). I mean, I'm a tyro so those are just my impressions with nothing to back them up but that's how I made my decision on my one set.

In terms of Haydn, I happened to find most of Fischer's 1-81 + A&B in a thrift store, so picked it up and completed that part which, with Marriner/ASMF for Paris, Kuijken/La Petite Bande for 88-92, and Davis/RCO for London gives me a complete "set" though not an actual set, of course. That was mostly just in the hands of the classical CD gods.

All that said, I'm reasonably happy with what I've got and much happier than when I had less.  And, now that I've found this site, maybe I'll have a better idea of things in the future.


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## Merl

Lord Lance said:


> Oh, come on, no this again. There is no _best_. And certainly no best *box sets. *
> 
> Depends on you. Modern? Period? Hybrid slanted towards period? Hybrid slanted towards modern? Sound quality preferences? Thoroughness? Which modern/period do you enjoy?
> 
> For thoroughness: Hogwood.
> For joyous playing: Mackerass
> For historically important: Leinsdorf
> For soaring, beautiful string tone: Levine
> For warm, romantic full blown playing: Bohm
> For hybrid: Fischer
> For lovers of Snail Pace: Harnoncourt's Early Symphonies
> My personal favorite for last six: Karajan/BPO [For 28 and 38, his recordings from the 1980s]
> Idiosyncratic Mozart: Leonard Bernstein/VPO


Excellent summary. Couldn't have put it better.


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## joen_cph

Common Listener said:


> I recently sprang for Tate/ECO's complete Mozart symphonies but my loose late symphonies were mostly of those Levine/WPOs and I like them, too.
> 
> Speaking of complete sets, it seems like everyone here listens to every box set out there and own dozens (or hundreds!) of them. Is this the case or do people like me usually just not say much?  I'd been limping along with Mozart's early symphonies on a box of LPs and most of the rest on random CDs until I finally couldn't stand not having a unified complete set so, in conjunction with Amazon price listings, I sampled some on youtube (using mostly parts of Symphonies Nos. 29 & 40 and some 41) to decide which _one_ I wanted based on a sound/cost combo. My notes say I checked out:
> 
> Arigoni/Filarmonica Italiana
> Bohm/Berlin
> Levine/Vienna
> Linden/Amsterdam
> Mackerras/Prague
> Marriner/ASMF-Krips/RCO
> Pinnock/English Concert
> Tate/English
> Ward/Northern Chamber Orchestra-Wordsworth/Capella Istropolitana
> 
> And that's all I could manage. My snap-judgment notes really slag the Arigoni in a way I won't repeat, found the Bohm almost Karajanesquely heavy, the Linden good but sparse, the Krips half of the Krips/Marriner a little academic and too expensive anyway, the Ward/Wordsworth surprisingly adequate but uninspired, the Mackerras okay but so fast it sounded like a guy falling down the stairs (and I like fast so this was _really_ fast) ... and the Tate (what little I could find to sample) was Goldilocks - not too fast or slow, not too heavy or light, and with some zest (and affordability). I mean, I'm a tyro so those are just my impressions with nothing to back them up but that's how I made my decision on my one set.
> 
> ...


My impressions too of those mentioned recordings. Skipped a cheap Arigoni I once got. I didn't invest in Levine or Tate, but they are nice.


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## Merl

The Arigoni set is awful. I paid buttons for it but it's not worth even pennies. Yuch. The Adam Fischer cycle is impressive. It might not be for everyone but I really like it. O e reviewer called it 'Szell on steroids' (lol) and yes it is a bit livelier (if you don't like Mackerras you won't like it) but it's also quirky. The recordings of the last symphonies are especially good. Love the hard sticks on timpani but then frequent visitors here will know I love my timpani that way.


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## joen_cph

When there's a lesser known or secondary Italian orchestra involved, I usually think twice


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## Ras

*The Heidelberger Symphony with or without Thomas Fey*

*Conductor Thomas Fey was making a complete Haydn symphony recording for the Hanssler label with the Heidelberger Symphony Orchestra,* but unfortunately in 2014 Fey suffered a "severe traumatic brain injury" and hasn't returned to the podium. The orchestra has continued recording without him. *Fey studied period performance practice with Harnoncourt in Salzburg, but the Heidelberg orchestra plays modern instruments. I can't say if all of the Heidelberger cycle "holds up" (and the cycle isn't finished yet) - but these have become some of my favorite Haydn symphony recordings:
*


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