Complete Haydn cycles haven’t been lucky on disc, so thank God we have at least one very good one (Dorati’s). This from Dennis Russell Davies is certainly the worst so far. There’s something shoddy about the entire production, beginning with a bad edit right at the start of the First Symphony. The poorly translated notes sagely assert that “nearly four years separate” the first symphony from the last. Interesting. What a busy bee Haydn must have been during those 48 months.
The Sinfonia concertante is listed as “Symphony No. 105”, while “A” and “B” are numbered “107” and “108” respectively, even though they belong with the earliest works. Oh, and there is no “106”. The symphonies are not listed numerically, but chronologically, which is largely speculative until we get to the later works, and this arrangement makes finding individual pieces a pain in the neck. Don’t the folks responsible for this nonsense have something better to do with their time?
The truth is that none of this would matter terribly if the performances were more appealing, but they aren’t. Davies, who never has made a great recording of pre-20th-century music (though he’s been quite impressive in modern works), certainly doesn’t start here. He uses a harpsichord continuo throughout, which is wrong and a bad idea in more ways than I care to enumerate. Additionally, his phrasing in the allegros is consistently choppy, he seems allergic to creating an exciting climax, the minuets tend to drag, and his slow movements are coolly inexpressive.
There’s no need to go into the details of individual works; Davies is nothing if not consistent. If you’ve heard one, you’ve heard ’em all, and it’s not an experience that bears repetition. The Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra presumably gives him exactly what he wants without sounding in any way exceptional or particularly involved. For example, the horns blast nicely at the start of the finale of the “Drumroll” symphony, but the occasional ear-catching detail only emphasizes the mechanical blandness of the rest. What a shame.
