Only by a fair-sized stretch of the imagination could this five-disc set, The Ultimate Haydn, actually be considered the ultimate collection of the great Austro-Hungarian composer's works. Included are five symphonies, four concertos, three string quartets, one mass, and two brief cantatas, which represent only a small fraction of the composer's vast oeuvre. While the selections themselves are characteristic of the composer's work in the various forms -- the "London" Symphony, the "Emperor" Quartet, and the "Nelson" Mass ...
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Only by a fair-sized stretch of the imagination could this five-disc set, The Ultimate Haydn, actually be considered the ultimate collection of the great Austro-Hungarian composer's works. Included are five symphonies, four concertos, three string quartets, one mass, and two brief cantatas, which represent only a small fraction of the composer's vast oeuvre. While the selections themselves are characteristic of the composer's work in the various forms -- the "London" Symphony, the "Emperor" Quartet, and the "Nelson" Mass are all present and accounted for -- the performances are a hodgepodge. Decca has chosen high-intensity readings of Symphonies No. 95 and No. 104 by Georg Solti and the London Philharmonic Orchestra, and three smaller scale, more genial readings of Nos. 94, 96, and 100 by Antal Dorati and the Philharmonia Hungarica. For the concertos, there is Mstislav Rostropovich's muscular interpretation of the Cello Concerto with Benjamin Britten leading the English Chamber Orchestra, Barry...
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