These three symphonies come from the period when Haydn’s principal occupation was the composition of operas, and as such they have been criticized as neither as intense as the great preceding “Sturm und Drang” works, nor as sophisticated and mature as his later “Paris” and “London” symphonies. This is true as far as it goes, which isn’t very. Taken by themselves, they are, one and all, delightful, from the minor key rumblings and sly chromaticisms of No. 78’s first movement, to the delicious contrapuntal displays of No. 77’s initial Allegro and Finale (the entire work is a genuinely unknown masterpiece). Even the great Haydn scholar H.C. Robbins Landon, who is very hard on these “middle” symphonies, called the orchestration of No. 79’s Menuetto a “miracle.” And so there’s plenty here to entertain and astonish a sympathetic listener. Nicholas Ward has been contributing some of the best entries to date in Naxos’ ongoing Haydn symphony cycle, and these three vivacious performances maintain the high standard he’s set thus far. Try it, you’ll like it.
