Haydn Orfeus

One can never own enough recordings or hear enough performances of the Haydn string quartets. Not only did Haydn invent the quartet form, he was composing, even early in his career, at a level that no one else could even come close to matching, according to Classical Era authority, Charles Rosen. These Opus 20 'Sun Quartets' (so-called because of the drawing of a sun on the title-page of the original published edition) were among the eighteen early quartets Haydn wrote around 1770 in which he made a huge advance on what had previously been a form more like a divertimento; in so doing he more or less invented 'high classicism'.

Haydn wrote the six quartets of Opp 54 and 55 in 1788, by now a celebrated composer across Europe and still opera Kapellmeister at Esterházy. These period instrument players, whose very name declares their affinity for Haydn, excel in the latest in their Hyperion series. Ever spry in fast movements, faultless in dexterity and intonation, they find a special warmth of feeling in the slower moments: the songful Adagio Cantabile of Op 55 No 1, the puzzling, melancholy Andante of Op 55 No 2, the dark, hymn-like first bars of Op 54 No 2’s Adagio, out of which the violin soars in almost improvised, bluesy reverie. Too many pleasures to enumerate. Try for yourself.

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.

Recorded in Budapest between 1993 and 2006, this complete set of the Haydn String Quartets performed by the Festetics Quartet represents the most challenging project accomplished by Michel Bernstein, the mythical founder of Arcana who died a few months after the recording of the very last volume. For the first time in a boxed set, this monumental achievement is the first and only complete on period instruments and features the complete 58 string quartets authenticated by the composer for the great Artaria edition, making a total of 19 CDs put in chronological order. A reference edition, enriched by the detailed essay signed by the Hungarian musicologist László Somfai, one of the most eminent Haydn scholars. The Festetics have extensively studied Haydn’s original quartet manuscripts, and have relied heavily on László Somfai.

It's an interesting idea to have seven symphonies by Franz Joseph Haydn performed by the Wiener Philharmoniker, but led by five different conductors. This recording offers Christoph von Dohnányi's No. 12 from 1991, Zubin Mehta's No. 22 from 1972, Franz Welser-Möst's No. 26 from 1998 and No. 98 from 2009, Nikolaus Harnoncourt's No. 93 and No. 103 from 2009, and Pierre Boulez's No. 104 from 1996.

Haydn composed more than twenty operas, mainly for the sumptuous theatre at Eszterháza, the palace of his long-time employers, the princes of Esterházy. Even so, his work in the operatic field remains largely neglected. This disc focuses on an even more closely guarded secret: the so-called 'insertion arias' that Haydn wrote for inclusion in operas by other composers. The rarely, if at all, recorded music includes Haydn's three contributions to La Circe, an opera pasticcio which combined music by several composers, and six of the surviving insertion arias. Among these is Infelice sventurata, written for an opera by Cimarosa, and one of Haydn's finest arias, here movingly performed by Miah Persson. The Swedish soprano shares the greater part of the programme with the Swiss tenor Bernard Richter.

At last there is a Haydn Stabat mater within easy reach. The piece is seldom performed and even more rarely recorded, and this despite the fact that it contains some of the composer's most rich and deeply felt writing. One of the few works not written to order (Prince Nikolaus Esterhazy was less than keen on encouraging the sacred duties of his Kapellmeister) the Stabat mater is also one Haydn himself grew to respect highly, and Trevor Pinnock's performance makes it clear why.

Composed at a time when the keyboard trio was increasingly becoming for Haydn a preferred means of exploring new and highly personal musical grounds in the field of chamber music, these works exhibit all the wit, charm and verve we have come to expect from this most prolific composer. The "Franz Joseph Trio" has undertaken in Montreal the performance of Haydn's complete keyboard trios.