No. 64 is a slight affair with an especially tender slow movement. Though faster than Dorati and Philharmonia Hungarica (nla), Bella Drahos still manages to bring out the expressiveness finely. No. 84 is one of the "famous" Paris symphonies and second only to the "London" symphonies in maturity of expression. No. 90 is slightly later and has a spirited, lengthy Menuet, worthy of note. Clear, excellent recorded sound prevails in all.

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, and besides I wasn't even sure if I'd like Haydn all that much. I played it safe and made my first four purchases the two Szell Sony Essential Classics discs collecting Symphonies Nos. 92-97 between them, and Bernstein Royal Editions of the Paris (82-87) and London (100-104) Symphonies. (I can't remember why I opted for these instead of the Davis Philips two-fers -- the performances are just as amazing, and they are probably cheaper when all is said and done.)

To say the least, these Szell and Bernstein performances were stunning, and I was definitely on my way to a love affair with Haydn. But as I searched out more single disc Haydn titles, I found it very difficult to fill in the gaps in my collection between Symphonies 80 and 104. I discovered a few quality recordings here and there that fit the bill -- a Furtwangler performance of Symphony No. 88 on DG Originals and a Klemperer recording of Symphony No. 98 on EMI -- but for the most part I came away empty-handed.

At this point, a friend suggested the Naxos label. I was naive then and I told my friend I wasn't interested in hearing Alfred Rumplestiltskin and the East Cowtown Nebraska orchestra perform the great works. He told me not to be such a snob, and assured me that the performances and recording quality were consistently excellent, and that symphonies like the Cologne and Northern Chamber Orchestras, while not the Berlin Philharmonic, were certainly first class groups.

Well, now I am the proud owner of several Haydn Naxos Symphony CDs, including Volumes 12, 13 (this title), 16, 18, 20 and 21. All the performances are brilliant, and often indistinguishable from the Szell and Bernstein accounts, well at least to my intermediate-level listening ear. 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.