Kammerorchester Basel - Haydn 2032 12 - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

The eleventh volume of the complete HAYDN2032 symphony cycle moves it's focus to Paris 'Every day one perceives more clearly, and consequently admires more, the productions of this great genius, who, in every one of his works, knows so well how to draw rich and varied developments from a single subject', wrote the Mercure de France in April 1788, adding that Haydn was 'quite different from those sterile composers who constantly move from one idea to another...'. The symphonies presented here are no.2 (the first to be published in France), no.24 (the first to be performed there) and the so-called 'Paris' symphonies nos. 87 and 82 'L'Ours', with it's references to fairground atmosphere and it's famous contredanse finale.

Recorded in the winter of 2006, LAU's debut album, LIGHTWEIGHTS AND GENTLEMEN, sound like men willing to redefine how a trio can sound. Arming themselves with both highly original repertoire and some superb takes on traditional song, their fearless appetite for imrpov digs deep into a wild array of genres and spits them out as a perfect folk-jazz stew.

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 Eszterháza Palace in 1778, it was published in London around 1781, and it's 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 Eszterháza 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.