Haydn: Symphonies Nos. 92 ("Oxford") & 94 ("Surprise"); La fedeltŕ premiata Overture [Hybrid SACD] [Hybrid SACD - DSD]

Franz Joseph Haydn (Composer), Adam Fischer (Conductor), Österreichisch-Ungarische Philharmonie (Orchestra) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Orchestra: Österreichisch-Ungarische Philharmonie
• Conductor: Adam Fischer
• Composer: Franz Joseph Haydn
• Audio CD (May 24, 2005)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Hybrid SACD - DSD
• Label: MD&G Records
• ASIN: B0007OP68A
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #481,988 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Overture: Presto

2. Adagio/Allegro Spiritoso

3. Adagio

4. Menuet. Allegretto/Trio

5. Presto

6. Adagio/Vivace Assai

7. Andante

8. Menuet. Allegro Molto/Trio

9. Fianle. Allegro Di Molto

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Great Sound (SACD), OK Performance, February 6, 2008

By 

Virginia Opera Fan (Falls Church, VA USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Haydn: Symphonies Nos. 92 ("Oxford") & 94 ("Surprise"); La fedeltŕ premiata Overture [Hybrid SACD] (Audio CD)

Fischer appears to be bent on becoming the first conductor to record the Haydn canon twice. His first effort (originally on Nimbus, now available in a Brilliant Classics bargain box) was not so hot in the late, great symphonies of Haydn's old age. It was very good indeed in the early and middle period works.

It seems that conductor and orchestra are slipping into the bad habits that compromised the first go at these wonderful works. It makes me wonder if Fischer really has an affinity for these masterpieces. The performances are pretty charmless without the graciousness that the great Haydn conductors (Jochum; Klemperer, perhaps surprisingly; and Szell; to name three) brought to their recorded performances. Phrasing is choppy and the menuets are afflicted with exaggerated luftpausen that make this dance derived music sound pretty arthritic. Fortes are also exaggerated and the tympani (played with hard sticks, I think) overly prominent. The banging works well enough in the "surprise" of No. 94's Andante, not so well elsewhere. Clipped is, I think, an accurate description of both performances. First chair players are OK, but they don't challenge the recorded competition.

The first segment in the new series (Nos. 88 and 101) raised high hopes that have not been realized in this disc or the issue incorporating Nos. 97 and 102. At least the SACD multi-channel layer is well recorded. I think the CD layer is over-reverberant. I hope that Fischer and company will surprise in later installments of this series. They did the first time around and I hope history repeats itself.