Michael Haydn: Symphonies

Joseph Haydn's younger brother Michael has earned less fame. His earlier career followed that of his brother, as a chorister and then earning a living from music as best he could in Vienna. He became Kapellmeister in 1757 to the Bishop of Grosswardein and in 1762 moved to Salzburg, home of the Mozart family, serving there as Konzertmeister to the ruling Archbishop and to his successor, while earning a not inconsiderable reputation beyond the confines of his position. His pupils included Weber and the composer-publisher Diabelli, while his influence on Mozart cannot be discounted.

Church Music

Like his elder brother, Michael Haydn wrote music of all kinds. One of the most interesting of his liturgical works is the Requiem he wrote on the death of his first Salzburg patron, Archbishop Sigismond, in 1771.

Orchestral Music

Michael Haydn wrote a number of symphonies and concertos. His Trumpet Concerto of 1764 is a useful repertoire item for soloists, but other orchestral works are heard less frequently.

Chamber Music

Michael Haydn's instrumental music, in addition to a number of divertimenti, includes a dozen attractive string quartets.

Concerti Brillanti: C.P.E. Bach, Graf, Haydn, Hasse

A well-established concerto and three discoveries, one a minor masterpiece, in excellent performances.

This is an unbeatable combination: a first-class, photogenic young cellist who has already made a reputation for himself teams up with one of the foremost early-music exponents. The programme combines the comparatively well-known C.P.E. Bach Cello Concerto with world-première recordings of three very fine concertos by C.P.E.’s predecessors and successors. Add good orchestral support and a very good recording and you have the recipe for what should make this co-production with Bavarian Radio a best-seller.

“Vogler's playing is technically assured and sturdily lyrical throughout all four works.” --Gramophone Magazine, June 2008

Bassoon Concertos by Mozart, Haydn M., Stamitz & Weber

'A delightful and generous collection' --Gramophone

'Dynamic and expressive contrasts are carefully and adroitly created and the orchestra meticulously managed. The result is a lovely and technically superior recording, not to mention another star in the crown of the folks at Hyperion' --Fanfare, USA

'Dazzling. Hyperion's perceptive talent-spotting has produced a charming disc from performers virtually new to the catalogue – unreservedly recommended' --BBC Music Magazine

'a recording of airy clarity … a most recommendable disc, with much to enjoy' --International Record Review

'The playing of the Manchester Camerata (on modern instruments) is excellent throughout … They and their oboist conductor support their principal bassoonist with such care and attention that it is fair to call this a labour of love all round. Enjoy' --musicweb.uk.net

'The performances are all sophisticated … a pleasure to listen to' --American Record Guide

Classical Trombone Concertos

“...there is no questioning Lindberg's nimble articulation or feeling for the music...The members of the Australian Chamber Orchestra...provide responsive and charming accompaniments and the programming is nicely balanced.” --BBC Music Magazine

“sensational … one of those recordings which make criticism a glorious irrelevance.” --International Record Review, July 2010 ****

MP3 320 · 137 MB

F.J. and J.M. Haydn: Flute Concertos & Scherzos

Pahud is a highly sensitive and accomplished player whose silken tone, faultless breath control, and exemplary good taste bring rich rewards.

This is an exceptionally satisfying program of charming, unaffected music by the Haydn brothers, and by one of their most successful Viennese contemporaries, Leopold Hoffmann.

Some initial explanation is called for here: The D-Major Flute Concerto traditionally ascribed to Joseph Haydn is known to have been written during the early 1780s, and was indeed listed in one of his several thematic catalogs. But this work has long since disappeared without a trace, and the one recorded here, while formerly also attributed to Haydn, has now been positively identified as the work of Leopold Hoffmann (1738-93). 

Those requiring a brief but informative evaluation of Hoffmann's career should read Dr. Allan Badley's booklet essays supplied with any of the recent Naxos discs devoted to Hoffmann's music in the series "The 18th Century Concerto."

In any case, such long-standing confusion would doubtless have pleased Haydn greatly—there was, it would seem, no love lost between these two composers, and Haydn once wrote of his colleague as "a braggart who believes that he alone has achieved Parnassus, and who seeks to undercut me in all matters." But to set matters straight, particularly in the context of this release, Breitkopf's catalog of 1765 does make mention of the six "Scherzandi," confirming them as indeed the work of Joseph himself, and this set is included, with flute concertos by Michael Haydn and Leopold Hoffmann, on the recording considered here.

The outstanding performers are flutist Emmanuel Pahud and 15 musicians drawn from the ranks of Berlin's principal orchestras, who come together as the Haydn-Ensemble Berlin under the direction of their founder, the oboist Hansjörg Schellenberger. Pahud seems in every way to be a highly sensitive and accomplished player whose silken tone, faultless breath control, and exemplary good taste bring rich rewards here. True enough, the performing style used here tends toward modernism, in keeping with the instruments employed of course, but the precision and élan of this playing is a joy throughout, and this disc may be instantly recommended. Suffice it to say that Robin Golding 's erudite booklet note furnishes useful background to these delightful works, though I doubt you'll be able to resist the seductive appeal of this lovely music-making long enough to read it thoroughly! Superb. -- Michael Jameson, FANFARE

MP3 320 · 172 MB