Customer Reviews

A Haydn Celebration

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This CD is precisely what it says it is, a Celebration of the genius of Franz Joseph Haydn, like the "Festschriften" of tributes sometimes published for great scholars. The 'tributes' here are the lovingly interpreted samples of Haydn's spectrum of masterworks, from solo keyboard to symphony to string quartet to oratorio, performed by many of the most exciting "historically informed" ensembles, singers, and instrumental virtuosi of the past decade.

Haydn's output of music was prodigious. Very few people can claim to have heard all of it. Certainly I haven't. There is an enormous, compendious 'Brilliant Classics' Haydn Edition available for a modest price, but I'm not sure it's the way to go. If you, like me, would rather have a reasonable collection of the very best performances, the 'big box' won't satisfy you. At that case, this two-CD sampler might be what you need, to be used as a guide to the genres of Haydn's music and especially to the most exciting interpreters, musicians like Christophe Coin, Jean-Guihen Queyras, and Andreas Staier.

The only previous reviewer has complained about the absence of texts for the cantata and oratorio selections. The complaint is just, I suppose, but if you find your ears enchanted by the samples from Haydn's Die Jahreszeiten oratorio, surely you'll choose to save your pennies and buy the whole thing. And if you're the kind of music fan who just wants one nice relaxing 'greatest hits' by Papa Haydn, you probably wouldn't find the texts very interesting anyway.

This CD reminds me of an old TV commercial for some brand of potato chips: "Betcha can't eat just one!" Well, I'll bet you can't hear just one!

Attentively and beautifully performed musically, but inexplicably there is neither text nor translation of the sung material, a real shame for those who like to know just what is being so deliciously sung about. Hard to understand, given the lavishness of the booklet that comes with the CD. What were they thinking?