Richard Hickox Haydn London Vol. 1

This is the first project in a seven-volume series exploring the ‘Sturm und Drang’ movement, which swept through all art forms in the between the early 1760s and 1780s. The purpose of this movement were to frighten and perturb through the use of wild and subjective emotional means of expression.

Québec pianist Marc-André Hamelin has emerged as a major star of the keyboard in recent years, but this brilliant double-disc set of Haydn keyboard sonatas – a representative 10 out of some 60 the composer wrote – was still hard to see coming. It may well become the definitive single-release choice for Haydn's sonatas, which are too often cherry-picked by the comparatively few big-name pianists who often include them on recordings and recitals. The temptation is to turn to the large-scale pieces Haydn wrote toward the end of his career, rather Beethovenian works that influenced the young king of the piano sonata profoundly.

Born in Vechta in northwestern Germany, Andreas Romberg (1767-1821) began touring throughout Europe as a violinist at age 6 with his cousin Bernard. After working in orchestras in Bonn, Hamburg, Paris and Vienna, where he concertized with Beethoven, he succeeded Louis Spohr as the court music director for Duke August of Gotha, Thuringia. Well regarded during his lifetime, Romberg's decline can be traced directly to the ascendency of his more famous contemporary. Tracking the number of public performances of Beethoven's string quartets versus Romberg's reveals an inverse relationship.

These two symphonies were composed for Haydn's second visit to London, during the winter months of 1794-95. He knew the musicians for whom he was writing, and they were a virtuoso ensemble. Therefore these are among the largest scaled, most technically demanding among all his symphonies.

Curated by leading musicologist and writer Nigel Simeone, Decca and DG's 20C series is devoted to the compositional high points of the 20th Century, presenting a comprehensive overview of classical music from an often-turbulent era. Volume One is a 28-CD set that features 26 iconic works by 26 composers from 1900-1949 and includes a timeline of musical premieres from that period with repertoire notes by Simeone.

Smooth lounge music from the 50's and early 60's, makes you want to put up your feet, sip a cold hi-ball, and transport your mind to simpilar times. Very relaxing and novelty beats. Not to many vocals, but all around a great variety of classic sounds that seem to have been forgotten today.

The fifteenth volume of the Haydn2032 cycle is entitled ‘La Reine’. One might think that this nickname refers to Empress Maria Theresa of Austria, queen of numerous territories, but in fact the monarch honoured by the popular title of Symphony no.85 is her daughter, Marie Antoinette. It was said to be the favourite of ‘La Reine de France’, which is the full nickname of the work. The new volume also includes Symphony no.50, which delighted the Empress’s ears when she visited Prince Nicolaus Esterházy at his ‘Hungarian Versailles’ in 1773. Symphony no.62, which dates from 1780, the fortieth anniversary of Maria Theresa’s accession to the throne and also the last year of a life as eventful as it was glorious, rounds off this latest instalment of the complete recording of the symphonies conducted by Giovanni Antonini, here at the helm of the Basel Chamber Orchestra.