Classics of the catalog
D. Jack Elliot | Omaha, Nebraska | 11/02/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This album was one of the great achievements of the early "period instrument" movement, which came into its maturity in the late '70s and early '80s with the recordings of Mozart's symphonies by these same musicians. Realizing their interpretations according to the same instrumental sonorities that Haydn himself would have had in mind, this as much chamber music as it is orchestral music. Lithe, agile, and with tremendous clarity and immediacy of expression, these readings reveal so much that gets lost in most modern orchestras' Haydn, with its thick, hyper-resonant textures. By now, any experienced listener will be thoroughly familiar with authentic performance practice in this repertoire; one can't really appreciate anymore just how groundbreaking and innovative it was, as period instrument orchestras began to develop into virtuoso ensembles at around the time of these recordings."