Haydn - Symphony 82 'The Bear' [Goodman-The Hanover Band] 

Of course this disc set is by Dutoit not Goodman, this was originally a 2 disc Fatbox set, but i had the Paris Symphonies by Goodman, so i put them in the back to make a 4 disc set instead, this is now a great box set, the more smoother modern sounding Dutoit against the more ancient abrasive Goodman, i like both, and i find in especially the Paris Symphonies, a real sense of rhythms and ideas, i think it works better with faster speeds, this set is now almost in my top 50, i played this exact work last year [16th April 2011].

Roy Goodman is English, he's now 61, and he recorded this work in 1992, the front and back cover artwork works very well [photo by Julian Broad], a tall picture of Dutoit on the left, and purple and mauve 'wallpaper' of crests, it works very well indeed, and the white and blue lettering is excellent too, really standing out.

The last two movements were superb, and i guess out of the two i would have to pick the last movement as my favourite, 

Here's the fourth movement being conducted by David Commanday on YouTube.

Haydn - The Seven Last Words Of Our Saviour On The Cross [Borodin String Quartet]

This is the first time i've ever played this work, i do like a nice Haydn String Quartet, especially the Op76 Quartets, this is different, it's in essence a huge String Quartet of 70+ minutes, Haydn would usually compose a String Quartet between 20 and 25 minutes long, so first off i'm not incredibly wowed, and yet it's worth giving it a review and analysing it, especially in a performance as committed as the Borodin's give.

The Borodin String Quartet are from Russia, formed in 1945, they are still going strong, however they have a completely different line up from when they first started, non of the Quartet recorded here are the original members, and neither are they members of the present Quartet, here's the line-up and the dates, the Quartet on this disc are in yellow,

First Violin

Rostislav Dubinsky [1945-1976]

Mikhail Kopelman [1976-1996]

Ruben Aharonian [1996-Present]

Second Violin

Vladimir Rabei [1945-1947]

Nina Barshai [1947-1953]

Yaroslav Alexandrov [1953-1974]

Andrei Abramenkov [1974-2011]

Sergey Lamovsky [2011-Present]

Viola

Rudolf Barshai [1945-1953]

Dmitri Shebalin [1953-1996]

Igor Naidin [1996-Present]

Cello

Mstislav Rostropovich [1945]

Valentin Berlinsky [1945-2007]

Vladimir Balshin [2007-Present]

they recorded this disc in 1993, the front booklet is a treat [photo by Thomas Muller], showing the Quartet couched in some nice autumn colours, the lettering to the right is well done.

On the whole i enjoyed this work, but it does last over 70 minutes, so i started to lose slight interest towards the end, i guess i enjoyed the First Sonata the best, it's slow like the rest of the work, sounds exactly what Haydn would do in a slow movement of a conventional String Quartet, it's quite simple music, the First Violin [Mikhail Kopelman] freely takes the voice of the 'lead singer' in the band, playing really sweetly, singing strongly against the other players, it's a lovely gentle movement. 

Here's the Arioso String Quartet playing the First Sonata [Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do!] on YouTube.

Haydn - Symphony 82 [Goodman-The Hanover Band] 

Here's another instalment in this 4 disc box set [yes i've added Goodman's 82-87 to the back of this set], this one's nicknamed 'The Bear', so called because the last movement depicted music that was performed for 'dancing bears', it's good to have this in early historical performance by The Hanover Band, and i played this same Symphony from this set last year [19th May 2010], but that was the Dutoit version.

Roy Goodman is an English Conductor, born in 1951, he made this recording in 1992.

Unlike Dutoit, Goodman plays the exposition repeat in the first movement [an ending repeat, rather than a beginning repeat], making it roughly 4 minutes longer, and it's this first movement that really got my spirit, i like the way that Goodman uses nice rasping brass, and the slap of the timpani are to the fore, a nice forward momentum in speeds, Goodman doesn't hang about, Certainly he puts the vivacious in the Vivace Assai!, also unlike a number of Haydn Symphonies, this one dispenses with a slow introduction, we go straight in at the deep and fast end!, i just love that brass and timpani, the way they join forces to beat / blast out the main rhythm [0:11-0:26], and the oboes cluck out the responding refrain [0:27-0:32], but it's certainly not a reflective movement, and the frantic and rushed strings play their heads off [0:42-1:04], very thrilling, and the whole thing erupts again in repeat [2:09+], and it's this repeating / reinforcing that really rubs into you the second time around, especially those headless frantic strings [2:50-3:12], Haydn certainly wasn't bothered with long term architectural structure like Beethoven was, rather he had a small bunch of musical ideas, that he presented again and again in a fun merry-go-round, after a slightly different middle section, the final straight appears, and Haydn brings us to a satisfying conclusion to the whole thing, but it's a false ending [7:40], and Goodman sends his forces on another victory lap!, this time the ending becomes more weighty and serious, and the brass and timpani have one last bash / blast to see us out! [10:46-11:06], a thrilling movement of ferocity.

Here's Leonidas Kavakos conducting the first movement on YouTube. 

Haydn - Symphony 87 [Dutoit-Sinfonietta De Montreal] 

It's good to dip into this 4 disc box set again [with the Roy Goodman Paris Symphonies i added to the back of this set], last month i played Symphony 84 [22nd February 2011], Haydn has 104 Symphonies, so it's a lot to get to know, i don't know anyone who can really delve into his Symphonic oeuvre properly, i certainly know these 6 Paris Symphonies more than his other Symphonies put together, and i prefer them to his London Symphonies.

Charles Dutoit is Swiss, born in 1936, now 84 years old, he was with the Orchestre Symphonique De Montreal for 25 years [of which this smaller band is culled from], the front and back inserts show the fleur-de-lis symbols in mauve with a sort of wallpaper background in purple, a nice idea on which the photograph [by Julian Broad] and lettering are placed, looks great, this Symphony was recorded in 1991.

Well for me the first movement is incredible, and it's a shame Haydn couldn't keep the high level of creation in the rest of the movements, the opening first movement Vivace in my opinion is better than the other three movements put together, it's not a long movement [just 6:32], there's no intro by Haydn unlike other Symphonies, we go straight into the rapid gunfire delivery, and it's those darker strings, no doubt cellos and basses that have that wonderful rapid fire tutti [0:08 & 0:16], that the violins join in right away [0:11 & 0:19], it's so enthusiastic and contagious, the opening comes to a head at [0:53], where the music has an extra burst of energy, and the violins have a couple of downward slashing figures one after the other [1:02 & 1:06], which are such a satisfying culmination at the end of this opening, however the whole thing erupts again [1:39], and it's certainly a feature of Haydn to present things in little cells, and then have them return again and again, like an ever revolving carousel, after a middle trio where some different variations of the opening material are presented, the opening returns again [4:48], but more with a 'culmination' feel to it all, it's a fairly short movement that hits you again and again, i just love some of the opening movements by Haydn, and this is one of them.

Here's Hubert Soudant conducting the first movement on YouTube.

Haydn - Symphony 84 [Goodman-The Hanover Band] 

Naturally this isn't the booklet / back insert for this recording, it's another one of my amalgamation jobs, i put the Paris Symphonies [82-87] from Goodman in the back of this fatbox, now it's a 4 disc set instead of 2, these discs sit at No83 in my all time top list.

Roy Goodman is an English Conductor, born in 1951, he turned 60 last month, he recorded this Symphony in the mid Nineties, of a planned complete cycle, but i think Hyperion ran out of funds for it, and it never got completed.

I really enjoyed this Symphony so much, and it was especially the opening movement which so caught my ears, it's very repetitive indeed, and very catchy too!, there's a slow Largo introduction that starts the Symphony, so when the Allegro finally explodes [1:14], it really makes a very lively impact, very contagious, and like some nice disease it spreads rapidly, this Allegro opening comes back roughly 4 more times, also almost after the Allegro start, an extra level of exuberance is reached [1:40], and of course this is reprised too, not much more to say about this symphonic movement, as it's a constant merry-go-round of regurgitation, maybe a discord variation here, and a false ending there, but the reprises make the movement, very memorable and catchy!. 

Here's Thomas Carroll conducting the First movement on YouTube.