Haydn: Symphony No. 97 in C major

The Wiener Concert-Verein is a chamber orchestra of international renown and was founded in 1987 by members of the Vienna Symphony Orchestra. Their repertoire ranges from Viennese, classical works to contemporary Austrian compositions.

Thomas Fey and The Heidelberg Symphony continue their successful Haydn series. This orchestra has attracted a great deal of attention over the last few years. The specialised international press has praised the orchestra’s fiery and unusual interpretations. A number of recordings have been selected as “CD of the Month” or “CD of the Year”.

Acclaimed music director Ton Koopman, renowned for his interpretation of the early music repertoire, embarks on a series of recordings which will cover all twelve “London” symphonies of Joseph Haydn. They will be performed on instruments of the period – Koopman is joined on this venture by his orchestra Amsterdam Baroque, the group with which he has produced many of his finest performances.

Ton Koopman is one of the world’s foremost early music specialists and directors. His recording of the complete Bach Cantatas received worldwide acclaim, and his on-going cycle of the complete works of Dieterich Buxtehude has also been highly praised by the critics. Volume 5 was an “Editor’s Choice” in last September’s edition of “The Gramophone.”

Symphony No. 97 in C Major is the fifth of the so-called “London” symphonies which were composed at the time of his first trip to the capital. It was first performed in early May 1792 at the city’s Hanover Square Rooms. During the same year he wrote the 98th Symphony in B Flat Major, a work which is unique among Haydn’s later symphonies in that it features an obligato part for harpsichord.

This is the first volume of a new series of hybrid SACD recordings of the symphonies of Joseph Haydn by the Netherlands Radio Chamber Philharmonic and it’s highly regarded conductor Jaap van Zweden. It features one of the composer’s most popular works, the “Surprise” symphony (No. 94 in G Major), alongside the 92nd (also in G) known as the “Oxford” and Symphony No. 97 in C Major.

Although it was written in Paris in 1789, the first work included on this CD, Symphony No. 92 is nicknamed the 'Oxford', because the work was performed when Haydn was given a honorary degree at Oxford University. ‘The Symphony No. 94 in G Major, ”Surprise”’, is so called because of the sudden climax early in the second movement. Haydn’s 97th Symphony in C Major is the fifth in the group of twelve known as the London symphonies and was composed in 1792 on his first trip to the capital.

Born in Amsterdam in 1960, at the age of nineteen Jaap van Zweden became the youngest ever concert master of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. Since beginning his conducting career in 1995, he has been Chief Conductor of the Netherlands Symphony Orchestra (1996-2000), and Chief Conductor of the Residentie Orchestra (2000-2005). He has already released the complete Beethoven symphonies with the Residentie Orchestra, and is currently in the middle of recording a cycle of the Bruckner Symphonies for Octavia.

George Szell developed the Cleveland Orchestra into one of the world’s great performing entities, and remained its chief until his death in 1970. In 1967 he stated: "My aim in developing the Cleveland Orchestra has been to combine the finest virtues of the great European orchestras of pre-World War times with the most distinguished qualities of our leading American orchestras. In other words, we put the American orchestra’s technical perfection, beauty of sound, and adaptability to the styles of various national schools of composers into the service of warm-hearted, spontaneous music-making in the best European tradition". Szell began conducting Haydn symphonies in Prague in 1930, and they were conspicuous in his repertory for the rest of his life