Pleasing, infectious Haydn

Joseph Haydn: Symphonies no. 90, 91 and 92 (Wallerstein Symphonies)

Joseph Haydn was an important figure in the evolution of the composer's status from court lackey to free-lance entrepreneur, and I've always really admired how well he managed that process. Along the way, though, he wasn't above a little sharp dealing. Haydn in fact came very close to perpetrating a fraud; maybe let's say that the composer finessed the commission from Prince Kraft Ernst for three new symphonies for his Court Orchestra at Wallerstein Castle in Bavaria. The Prince was under the impression he had exclusive rights to the new music, but Haydn sold them at the same time to the Concert de la loge olympique in Paris. From our vantage point it's easy to see why everyone was clamouring for this music, and that Haydn, after years of loyal service at the Esterhazy court, was ready to cash in on his new Europe-wide fame. This is pleasing music, even infectious, but at the same time it has a serious side and, for me at least, a surprisingly strong, and cumulative, emotional impact.

Back in 2016 I gave a positive review to another disc of music from Wallerstein, played by the same orchestra, the Bayerisches Kammerorchester Bad Brückenau, also conducted by Johannes Moesus. But Ignaz von Beecke, who wrote the piano concertos I quite enjoyed, is no Haydn. Indeed, in my review I stated that "Joseph Haydn and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart ... both elevate the standard, stereotypical forms of the day to the highest level of art." In this new disc, then, the stakes are considerably higher. This is vibrant playing, alive to Haydn's often thrilling pulse, and Johannes Moesus's choice to opt out of Haydn's trumpets and timpani added after the original performances gives an open, chamber-like sound to these symphonies. But in the end this disc is not in the top echelon of performances for this special repertoire, a place where I'd put, for example, The Orchestra of the 18th Century under Frans Brüggen, and the Austro-Hungarian Orchestra under Adam Fischer. But there is much pleasure to be received from this album.

This album will be released on September 13, 2019.