Haydn: Concerto Roundup

 

For this roundup, I stuck to concertos which are decidedly from the pen of Haydn.

What to expect from a Soviet cellist in the 1970s playing Haydn?

Whatever such expectations might be, these are beautiful performances. Despite being a lion of the cello, Mstislav Rostropovich always plays at the behest of Haydn's music first.

Cello Concerto no. 1 in C Major finds the cellist at his absolutely best. Smooth playing, yet incisive too, there is nothing but sprung freshness uttering forth.

It is only in the very long first movement of Cello Concerto no. 2 in D Major where I hear some instances of rubato from the cellist, ones which remind me of the time and place of the recording. So too, Benjamin Britten's cadenzas in the First Cello Concerto and Rostropovich's in the Second Cello Concerto would not be my first choices.  Otherwise, the playing here rises above such recollections of the 1970s.

Luckily, the Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, here under the leadership of Iona Brown, stamps around just as joyously as Rostropovich. No wonder, these performances have remained in the canon for so long. They are an absolute delight!

In general, I have had the idea Haydn's concertos were merely early works, and ones not made of the magical stuff the composer would later compose.
Such a thought wouldn't be wrong either, for the orchestrations are string centered, with the barest of oboe and horn colorings. 

And yet, like Haydn's early symphonies, he exudes charm alongside light complexities in harmony and structure to please nonetheless.

Similar to Rostropovich on the cello, Italian violinist Salvatore Accardo has a big singing tone. Here he leads the English Chamber Orchestra from his instrument, set down in 1980. These are very pleasant performances, although the music itself is far from prime time material. Good to have such fine advocates, though.

Jean-Effim Bavouzet has scored big in nearly every project he has set himself to on record, not to mention a fresh set of Haydn's keyboard sonatas. As a bit of icing to those sonatas, Bavouzet also provided Haydn's three main keyboard concertos to set alongside the solo piano works.

Akin to that sonata set, Bavouzet plays with impetus and panache. He certainly enjoys piano embellishments throughout, but also is particularly fine in bright characterizations.

The Manchester Camerata has a feathery tone to support its solo pianist. As one who is usually taken with Emmanuel Ax's Haydn concertos, Bavouzet's comes as a surprise in comparison, making the earlier Ax recording sound positively bland. Of course, that is only in comparison, as I still hold a torch for Ax's Haydn.

The French pianist's cadenzas take some getting used to as well. In his cadenza to Keyboard Concerto no. 3 in F Major's second movement, I half expected Karen Carpenter to come out singing 'With every Sha-la-la-la-la, every Whoa-oh-whoa-oh'. Suffice to say, it will take purists some getting used to. On the other hand, I wouldn't be surprised if this recording was the new bar to set, although like the violin concertos, this is still early Haydn.

Recording Roundup

Violin Concertos 1, 3, 4
   Salvatore Accardo, violin
   English Chamber Orchestra
   Philips / Newton, 1981; 2000

Cello Concertos 1 & 2
   Mstislav Rostropovich, cello
   Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields
   Iona Brown, conductor
   EMI / Warner, 1975; 2012

Keyboard Concertos 3, 4, 11
   Jean-Effim Bavouzet, piano
   Manchester Camerata
   Gábor Takács-Nagy, conductor
   Chandos, 2014

 

  

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