René Jacobs turned in a sensational recording of Haydn’s The Seasons for Harmonia Mundi last year, and now he’s back with what I hope will mark the beginning of many forays into this composer’s inexhaustibly entertaining output. I loved this disc. Symphony No. 91 never gets played, but it’s a wonderful piece nonetheless, a svelte and sophisticated romp with a particularly wonderful variation second movement that becomes steadily more eccentric as it progresses, particularly in this performance. Jacobs and his crew then go absolutely crazy in the “Oxford” Symphony, particularly its finale, taken faster than even the excellent Freiburgers can comfortably play it, and if some of the rhythmic definition and textural clarity fall by the wayside, well, who cares? Haydn’s wig would have hit the floor if he could have heard it, that’s for sure.
In between the two symphonies, Jacobs and the superb Bernarda Fink give us the fabulous and far too little known (especially in its version for full orchestra) Scena di Berenice, a concert aria worthy to rank with Mozart’s best, and the piece on which Beethoven modeled his own far less interesting Ah, perfido! Containing two dramatic recitatives followed by two moving arias, it runs the gamut of primarily sorrowful emotions and Fink simply nails it (the ending will make your hair stand on end), enhanced immeasurably by Jacobs’ incisive leadership. All of these pieces were either written for or played at Haydn’s London concerts, and this stunningly recorded disc is probably the closest you’ll ever get to a front-row balcony seat in the Hanover Square Rooms more than two centuries ago. There’s just got to be more where this came from. Please? [2/23/2005]
