Haydn: Symphony No. 104 in D major 'London'

Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra Records are renowned to release live - recordings of outstanding performances by the Wiener Philharmoniker with their most famous conductors.

All recordings are selected by the orchestra itself and represent the musicianship and tradition thereof.

This release is a homage to Haydn featuring seven of his symphonies , recorded live by five different conductors with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra in 37 years.

Three of the new productions were recorded in 2009 – the anniversary year of Haydn – two by Nikolaus Harnoncourt and one by Franz Welser - Möst.

The orchestra likes to celebrate Pierre Boulez 85. Anniversary with this new recording.

The violin Solo of the Symphony No. 103 is played on the same Stradivarius violin as on the first performance in 1795.

An exceptional and eagerly-awaited live recording of Haydn’s 12 ‘London Symphonies’ performed during a series of highly-acclaimed concerts in Vienna by Marc Minkowski and Les Musiciens du Louvre-Grenoble.

The ‘London Symphonies’ on this four-CD set were recorded at performances given at the Wiener Konzerthaus in June, 2009. They caused great enthusiasm among audiences and critics alike: “an orchestra playing at its very best – the performances of Haydn were exemplary. Exhilarating!” (Wiener Zeitung, June 2009). These concerts by Marc Minkowski and his orchestra in Vienna were praised by the international press: “the performance was a real success, warmly acclaimed by the audience.” (Kronenzeitung, June 2009). The recording has just been awarded a ‘Diapason d’Or’ by the French Magazine ‘Diapason’.

Marc Minkowski’s Les Musiciens du Louvre-Grenoble, which he founded in1982, is one of the most versatile, inventive and original ensembles currently active. The orchestra is particularly familiar with Haydn’s work, having partly established its reputation with critically acclaimed interpretations of this repertoire. Minkowski’s recording of the ‘London Symphonies’ is a significant contribution to the conductor’s project to reinterpret symphonies and operas from the Baroque era right through to modern music.

In 2009, the music world around the globe will commemorate the 200th anniversary of the death of Joseph Haydn. On Hyperion, Howard Shelley and his stylish continental orchestra present the symphonies that made Haydn the most famous and popular composer alive in the 1790s. These are Haydn’s most glittering, worldly symphonies, and listening to them as a set one can sense the exhiliarating milieu in which they were written. This boxed set, featuring high class performances, recordings and booklet notes at a budget price, is the perfect way to experience the joy and splendour of these works.

Norrington’s excursions into the Classical and Romantic and Symphonic repertoire have been well documented and now he and his Stuttgart colleagues turn their attention to Haydn. Haydn’s last twelve symphonies rank among the greatest achievements of western music and continue to inspire.