When I first got into classical music, purchasing all 104 symphonies by Haydn seemed like a monumental, if not impossible task. I simply couldn't afford something as grand as the Dorati Complete Haydn Symphonies Boxed Set (though one of these days it will be mine!). With so many choices available for the "Paris" Symphonies up through the "London" Symphonies, I have had a great time purchasing and comparing interpretations by various conductors - Bernstein, Szell, Davis, Beecham, Jochum, Furtwangler, Klemperer, Kempe, Karajan and Ansermet among others. However, if you are looking for Haydn pre-Symphony No. 82, your choices diminish drastically.

While I have generally steered away from Naxos when it comes to the standard repertoire (I just enjoy the "great" conductors and performers of the century too much), the label has never let me down when trying to get recordings of more obscure works. I am now the proud owner of nearly a dozen Haydn Naxos Symphony CDs, including this title, Volume 22 of Symphonies 13 and 36, and the Sinfonia Concertante with Bruhl and the Cologne C.O. While they are different symphonies from the "great" conductor accounts I mentioned above, in terms of overall quality and sound, the performances are completely on par, well at least to my intermediate-level listening ear. I can however directly compare the Sinfonia Concertante to an account by Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra on Sony Essential Classics, and if anything this Bruhl performance has slightly less bravado and flourish, which some people actually prefer. At this rate, I may continue backwards with Haydn's Symphonies on Naxos until I reach el numero uno. And another nice thing is that with Naxos that might even be an affordable undertaking.

I bought this album, having heard part of the 13th on the radio. I chose this version after reading several reviews on Amazon. As a casual classical music listener (and community orchestra performer), I am pleased with the recording. The three pieces present differing looks into Haydn's vast catalog. I don't feel qualified to discuss the quality or historic significance of the recording, but I will say I heard no obvious technical flaws. No doubt, Haydn wrote more compelling pieces - I love many of his later symphonies - but the 13th just struck me on my initial radio exposure, and hearing the entire work here did not disappoint. Number 36 is nice, but doesn't move me like the 13th did. The passing of the themes between several instruments in the Sinfonia is interesting - I shall have to listen to it many more times before I decide if I think a "shared" concerto works for me.

Haydn borrowed from many sources in his early symphonies, including the "concertante" form in which several soloists were juxtaposed against a small orchestra. Haydn's most famous early concertante works were the programmatic symphonies no. 6,7,8, "Le Matin", "Le Midi, and "Le Soir" ('morning", noon", and "night") which he composed shortly after assuming his post at Esterhaza to show off the soloists in his orchestra. Haydn composed many other concertante symphonies or movements of symphonies, including symphonies no. 13 and 36 on this CD. He returned to the form many years later with the sinfonia concertante, composed during his first visit to London. This CD offers the opportunity to hear Haydn use the concertante form at widely different points in his development as a composer.

Helmut Muller-Bruhl conducts the Cologne Chamber Orchestra in these performances. The orchestra plays on modern instruments but in 18th Century style. The harpsichord continuo is not used in these readings. The disk is part of the ongoing Naxos project of recording, with a variety of ensembles and conductors, the complete Haydn symphonies. The performances here have received mixed reviews: some favorable, some highly critical. I line up with the former opinion. This CD is a good way to get to know some lesser-known Haydn, both early and late.

The two symphonies, nos 13 and 36 are both early four-movement works dating from Haydn's first years at Esterhazy or, in the case of symphony no. 36 possibly predating Haydn's time at Esterhaza.

Symphony no 13 in D major features the use of four horns, similar to Haydn's "Hornsignal" symphony; but the distinctive character of no. 13 lies in its second movement. This movement is a slow, plaintive and highly ornamented solo for the cello with only the slightest of accompaniments from the strings. Haydn uses the timbre and the melancholy quality of the cello beautifully, especially in the higher register of the instrument. This concertante movement is proceeded by a quick, celebratory movement featuring rapidly moving strings accompanied by a chorus from the horn quartet. The minuet is also stately and ceremonial in character punctuated by tympani as well as by the horns. It is contrasted with a light trio given to the flute. Many listeners will recognize the theme of the finale to this symphony as Mozart used it in the finale to his "Jupiter" symphony. The theme is derived from a plainchant, and Haydn, and Mozart as well, made extensive use of it in their works, before Mozart said the last word with it in the "Jupiter".

Symphony no. 36 in E-Flat major makes a different use of the concertante style. The second movement is a duet between solo violin and solo cello and, in this movement, the string accompaniment plays an important role, stating a theme which alternates with the embroidered solo passages. The remaining three movements of symphony no. 36 are in the galant style, with a lively short opening movement which features a varied development, a minuet which contrasts a march-like opening with a legato trio in the strings, and a lively two-part finale.

Haydn wrote his three-movement sinfonia concertante in 1792, 30 years after the other works on this disk, during his first trip to London. The work is for orchestra together with four solo instruments, the violin, cello, oboe, and bassoon. It is Haydn's only work in this form. Mozart composed two works in this form, and in its breadth and easygoing character, the work reminds me of Beethoven's sole concertante effort, the triple concerto.

The laid-back, undramatic character of this work sets it apart from the London symphonies Haydn was also composing at the time. Haydn presents pleasant flowing themes and allows the orchestra and the soloists to decorate them. The soloists play in various combinations, most often in groups of two against two, but the violin soloist has the predominant role, especially in the final movement. The opening movement is march-like with the soloists entering and making music among themselves after the orchestral introduction. The second movement is given over almost entirely to the four soloists in a moment of chamber-music like intimacy. The finale features a brusqe, lively theme, followed by long recitive passages for the violin and a cadenza-like conclusion for all four soloists. This is lovely, relatively obscure late Haydn which will suprise listeners who know only his London symphonies and other late masterworks.

Robin Friedman