With 19 symphonies spread across six CDs, this major reissue set of Trevor Pinnock’s performances (with The English Concert) of a substantial selection of Haydn’s “Sturm und Drang” symphonies is outstanding in every regard. Derived from the German literary movement that affirmed that emotionalism and dark-hued urgency powerfully reflected the human condition, “Sturm und Drang” (literally “Storm and Stress”) exerted a profound impact upon the evolution of the Classical symphony, especially in Haydn’s hands. No one with an interest in either the period or the composer can possibly afford to be without this set. The performances are simply magnificent! Pinnock’s periodist band sounds brilliantly accomplished throughout, and the recorded sound is clear, impactful, and detailed.
Consider Pinnock’s account of Symphony No. 44 in E minor as a distillation of the qualities of this cycle. Haydn’s contemporaries must have been shocked, especially by the outer movements that pushed musical semantics of the times to unimagined limits of violent intensity. (It is said that Haydn requested its Adagio be played at his own funeral.) No less astounding is Symphony No. 46, probably the only Classical symphony in the remote key of B major. Beside the outlandish key go extremes of expression, with the first movement seeming unusually tense and threatening for a work of this period. Pinnock employs some 20 players and gives highly-charged, energized accounts of these works, in which outer movements are boldly and brilliantly projected, while slow movements reveal a consistent finesse and eloquent sense of line. In short, they capture the sophistication in Haydn’s music of this period without minimizing any of its urgency. Rival periodists–and I think principally of Bruno Weil’s thrilling versions of Symphonies 41, 42, 43, 44, 51, and 52, with the Canadian ensemble Tafelmusik–often have just as much to say about this music, but Pinnock and his team give the most complete and sincere overview; and the recordings, originally issued on DG’s Archiv label are, as I’ve already suggested, beyond criticism. An essential purchase.
