This is a pretty arbitrary collection of three of Haydn’s symphonies, one from the middle period, and two from the end of his career, including his famous final symphony, the “London.”
I have heard both 88 and 104 before. The performances are fine.
The “Trauer” is pretty good. The first movement doesn’t really fit the symphony’s nickname but is interesting and engaging. The second movement is where it gets interesting, with almost like a concerto gross type effect, only with a split between the strings and with the group playing off the beat (or whatever you call that in Classical). The third movement is the first time you really get a sense of “mourning”, at least to my ears, but even then, it really doesn’t seem to quite fit the nickname. Maybe it’s later stages. It must have meant something more to him, as he asked it to be played for his funeral. The final movement is upbeat again, but it relatively unconventional. This is probably one of his better middle symphonies with enough interesting stuff going on to keep you interested.
The problem is with this collection – it’s hard for me to see why you’d package the 44th, the 88th and 104th together.
6/10
- Symphony No. 44 In E Minor ‘Trauer’: Allegro Con Brio 7:05
- Symphony No. 44 In E Minor ‘Trauer’: Menuetto: Allegretto 6:20
- Symphony No. 44 In E Minor ‘Trauer’: Adagio 4:32
- Symphony No. 44 In E Minor ‘Trauer’: Finale: Presto 3:43
- Symphony No. 88 In G Major: Adagio-Allegro 6:38
- Symphony No. 88 In G Major: Largo 5:31
- Symphony No. 88 In G Major: Menuetto: Allegretto 4:10
- Symphony No. 88 In G Major: Finale: Allegro Con Spirito 3:46
- Symphony No. 104 In D Major ‘London’: Adagio-Allegro 8:19
- Symphony No. 104 In D Major ‘London’: Andante 9:26
- Symphony No. 104 In D Major ‘London’: Menuetto: Allegro 5:24
- Symphony No. 104 In D Major ‘London’: Finale: Spirito 6:50
- Composed By – Joseph Haydn
- Conductor – Barry Wordsworth
- Orchestra – Capella Istropolitana
- Producer – Hubert Geschwandtner, Karol Kopernicky