The first five Haydn
symphonies sounds like the start of
a cycle but this is actually Volume
29 in Naxos’s series which wanders back
and forth numerically as well as from
location to location. Volume 28 had
nos.37-40 from the Cologne Chamber Orchestra
under Helmut Müller-Bruhl, volume
27 nos. 50-52 from the Swedish Chamber
Orchestra under Bela Drahos. At least
this way they should get to the end
sooner or later: Haydn cycles have had
a chequered history on disc. The first
attempt, under Max Goberman (CBS), was
brought short by the conductor’s early
death, while the first actually to be
completed, under Ernst Märzendorfer,
had such limited distribution that most
people have never even heard of it.
Even quite knowledgeable record collectors
will usually tell you that the first
complete cycle was that conducted by
Dorati for Decca. Amusingly, while all
through the early 1970s the pages of
"Gramophone" and similar magazines
were full of advertisements and fulsome
reviews of the ongoing Dorati series,
three miserable little lines in November
1972 on a full-page ad by the Musical
Heritage Society (distributed in the
UK by Oryx) announced the "Complete
Haydn Symphonies (107)" on 49 LPs,
by the Vienna Chamber Orchestra under
Ernst Märzendorfer - and, while
they were about it, also the "Complete
Keyboard Works" played by Artur
Balsam on 15 LPs. No review appeared
in "Gramophone" but if memory
serves me right, Anthony Hodgson dedicated
considerable space to this cycle in
"Records and Recording". Shortly
after, Oryx faded from view as discreetly
as it had arrived, taking a number of
fascinating things with it; as well
as much dross by presumably pseudonymous
artists.
Following Dorati, unless
I am much mistaken, projects have been
started and abandoned under Hogwood
and Ivan Fischer, the former a victim
of public indifference, the latter of
the collapse of Nimbus. Mathematics
suggests to me (49 LPs equal not much
more than 30 CDs) that the Naxos hybrid
cycle must be at an advanced stage.
The Hogwood would have
been the first original instruments
cycle. It also made the controversial
decision not to make use of a harpsichord
continuo, even in the earlier, sometimes
sparsely scored works. Since you may
have strong feelings on some of these
matters, let me say that the Sinfonia
Finlandia play modern instruments with
some leanings towards what we now call
"authentic" style, though
without undue dogmatism; staccatos are
crisp but not aggressive, dynamics are
carefully graded but phrasing is never
over-preened. Extremes of tempi are
avoided: prestos are buoyant rather
than break-neck, andantes are never
mistaken for adagios, minuets dance
without haste but also without sagging
(as Dorati’s often did). In short, it’s
all very musical and very alive.
A particular feature
is the harpsichordist, Irina Zahharenkova
who, at the opposite extreme to Hogwood’s
non-existent one, has a very busy time
of it with scales and arpeggios galore,
improvising lead-backs to repeated sections
and even the odd little cadenza. It
sounds charming, but for repeated listening
I hope the non-specialist listener will
realize he is hearing a lot of notes
that Haydn never wrote. I tend to agree
that the earlier symphonies sound a
bit bleak without a continuo, but maybe
for a record it might have been better
to keep it to a minimum? Still, I thoroughly
enjoyed it.
Another feature is
that, although this is a chamber orchestra,
it seems to have been recorded in a
smallish room that makes it actually
sound very full and large (since Haydn’s
patrons didn’t have the equivalent of
the RFH in their stately homes, I am
sure this is right) and my overall impression
is of being carried along on a full
tide of majestic sound, the oboes and
horns triumphantly in the picture. In
place of graceful, charming "Papa
Haydn" of legend, he is revealed
to have been a "big" composer
right from the start. And make no mistake
about it; if he had left just these
five works, we would still rate him
higher than almost all his contemporaries
except Mozart - whose first five symphonies
would not make such a fine showing;
we would wonder at the fugal finale
of the 3rd, with its startling
anticipation of the "Jupiter",
at the inventive textures of the Andante
of no.4 - and with so few instruments
to extract this fascinating sound from
- at the harmonic alarums and excursions
of the terse first movement of no.2
and we would enjoy practically everything
else. So if you only have late Haydn
symphonies in your collection and have
the snobbish idea that anything below
about no.50 is not worth your consideration,
spend a few pounds on this and you’ll
get quite a surprise.
Christopher Howell
Sinfonia Finlandia/Pattrick Gallois 
