Haydn And His World

In September 1790, following the death of his princely employer, court composer Haydn and his entire orchestra were sacked. As he was considering this change in circumstances, Haydn received an unexpected visit from Johann Peter Salomon, a German impresario based in London, who made him a tempting offer: an opera, six symphonies and twenty other pieces to be written for the city, and a guaranteed income from a new concert series. So it was that, on 2 January 1791, Haydn arrived in England for the first of two visits that would leave an indelible mark both on the musical life of his host country and on the composer himself.

He was closely associated with EMI for the majority of his recording career (specifically from 1946 to 1960 and then again from 1969 to 1984). While Beethoven’s symphonies, so central to Karajan’s recorded legacy, embody music’s transition from Classicism to Romanticism, this set presents symphonies by Beethoven’s great Classical predecessors – Mozart and Haydn – and his admiring Romantic contemporary, Schubert. It also offers a rarity: the overture to Cherubini’s opera Anacréon.

The Australian Haydn Ensemble stands at the forefront of Australia’s historically informed orchestras. Comprised of world-class musicians on period instruments, AHE is deeply dedicated to historical research and authentic interpretation, preserving the legacy of Classical masters while captivating audiences with their artistry and passion. Here they turn their brilliance to the music of Mozart: his beloved Piano Concerto in C Major (known as the ‘Elvira Madigan’ after it was immortalised on the 1967 movie), his sparkling Third Violin Concerto, and the magnificent ‘Prague’ Symphony.

The Australian Haydn Ensemble stands at the forefront of Australia’s historically informed orchestras. Comprised of world-class musicians on period instruments, AHE is deeply dedicated to historical research and authentic interpretation, preserving the legacy of Classical masters while captivating audiences with their artistry and passion. Here they turn their brilliance to the music of Mozart: his beloved Piano Concerto in C Major (known as the ‘Elvira Madigan’ after it was immortalised on the 1967 movie), his sparkling Third Violin Concerto, and the magnificent ‘Prague’ Symphony.

In a conducting career spanning several decades, Sir Neville Marriner has had many great achievements, especially with his own Academy of St. Martin In The Fields, and as music director of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra from 1969 to 1978. Another great achievement was the series of recordings he made during the middle and late 1980s with the Dresden State Orchestra for EMI of the later Mass settings of Franz Joseph Haydn, recordings that, alongside similar ones made by Leonard Bernstein, both with the New York Philharmonic in the 1970s and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra in the 1980s, bought this particular aspect of Haydn's output back into the forefront after having been somewhat obscured by his one hundred four symphonies.