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Big Beat
The premiere was celebrated with a big beat of a drum: "An irresistibly
exuberant Haydn. Now what has gotten into those speakers!" (Pizzicato)
And the immediate response came in the form of the Echo Classics prize
for the Surround Recording of the Year. On Vol. 2 the Haydn Philharmonic
under its founder Adam Fischer continues its success story with the Symphonies
Nos. 88 and 101 and the Overture to the Opera L'isola disabitata.
Fiery Fortune
Although the prince's music theatre in Esterháza was destroyed
by fire a few weeks prior to the first performance of the opera, the music
was saved and with it the premiere. The original has been preserved until
the present day in the famous Haydn Hall in Eisenstadt, a baroque ballroom
with a magnificent marble floor that Haydn wanted to replace with a simple
wooden floor. His wish was the prince's command, and the present recording
does splendid justice to the remarkable acoustics.
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Personal Persuasion
The Austrian composer created quite a stir when he conducted the performance
of his symphonies in person at Salomon's Concerts. This task normally
would have fallen to the concertmaster Johann Peter Salomon, who had urged
Haydn to make the trip to London. Even the British press conceded that
Haydn's conducting contributed significantly to the success of the concert
series.
Symphonic Surprises
Joseph Haydn repeatedly surprised his public with inimitable jokes. In
Symphony No. 88, by way of exception, he does not have the timpani and
trombones appear until the Largo second movement. His contemporaries could
hardly believe their ears because at the time such "military instruments"
were strictly forbidden in slow movements. In the slow movement of Symphony
No. 101 an accompaniment motif like a pendulum delights the listener (so
much so that the work came to be known as "The Clock"). And,
finally, a sharp dissonance startles weary souls out of their sleep: this
too is a surprise symphony.
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