Composer: Franz Joseph Haydn
Orchestra: Kammerorchester Basel
Conductor: Giovanni Antonini
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Alpha
Catalogue: ALPHA694
Release: 2023
Size: 2.61 GB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
Symphony No. 53 in D major ‘The Imperial’
01. I. Largo maestoso – Vivace
02. II. Andante
03. III. Minuet – Trio
04. IV. Finale
Symphony No. 54 in G major
05. I. Adagio maestoso – Presto
06. II. Adagio assai
07. III. Minuet. Allegretto – Trio
08. IV. Finale
Symphony No. 33 in C major
09. I. Vivace
10. II. Andante
11. III. Minuet – Trio
12. IV. Finale. Allegro
Sinfonia in D major, Hob. Ia:7
13. Allegro con spirito
The fourteenth volume of the Haydn2032 edition is entitled L’Imperiale, after the nickname given to Symphony no.53 in the nineteenth century. This was perhaps Haydn’s most famous symphony during his lifetime. Premiered in the theatre at Eszterhaza Palace in 1778, it was published in London around 1781, and its melodious Andante was arranged more than thirty times for various instruments between 1783 and 1820. It made a decisive contribution to Haydn’s success, opening the way for him to perform in England. Symphony no.54, whose entertaining, theatrical style is a perfectly match for the atmosphere of the legendary court festivities given at Eszterhaza around 1775, completes this programme along with no.33, one of his first festive works with trumpets, composed c.1761. In his introductory text, Giovanni Antonini revels in the ‘capricious’, whimsical character of certain passages in the last movement of Symphony No. 53; he also offers an alternative finale of the work at the end of the album.
The Haydn 2032 project of conductor Giovanni Antonini is an ambitious undertaking, with plans to record all of the composer’s symphonies by 2032. They are divided by theme rather than being plowed through chronologically, usually with relevant works by other composers added on. Here, the “extra” composer is Haydn himself, who revised a puppet-show overture into an alternate finale for one of the present symphonies. The Symphony No. 53 in D major, Hob. 1/53, was given the nickname “L’Impériale” (“The Imperial”) by someone other than Haydn, but it is accurate enough for the imposing, timpani-backed opening. In fact, all three of the works here make unusual use of the brass, and they are well suited to Antonini’s high-powered, large-orchestra approach. That approach is all to the good; there is no reason to think Haydn wouldn’t have wanted as large an orchestra as he could get. It may diminish some of the humor in the slow movements, but it is not that Antonini is incapable of humor; sample the finale of the Symphony No. 33 in C major, Hob. 1/33, which here is about as riotously deceptive as it has ever been. The works are recorded with all repeats, but they never grow tiring. A strong entry in Antonini’s ambitious series, this made classical best-seller lists in the late summer of 2023.