Symphonies No. 70, 73 La Chasse75

MusicWeb - Recording of the Year 2008

"Fey takes risks, provides variety and an element of showmanship, but all intelligently applied, to create the most vibrant Haydn performances I've heard for a long time."
(Music Web Recording of the Month August 2008)

"Thomas Fey's Haydn series goes from strength to strength, and this is one of the best releases so far. First, a few words about the music, much of which may be unfamiliar to music lovers. Symphony No. 70 lasts less than 18 minutes but nevertheless remains one of Haydn's most brilliant and quirky creations. The Andante is a series of canonic variations in alternating major and minor keys: music of eerie desolation, particularly in this dynamically sensitive performance. The finale is hilarious: five repeated notes and a tiny three-note squiggle outline a minor second. From this evocation of nothingness, Haydn constructs a tremendous triple-fugue that vanishes as quickly as it appeared. I won't give away the surprise ending.

Symphony No. 73 concludes with the famous "hunting" finale that originally served as the overture to Haydn's opera La fedeltá premiata ("Fidelity Rewarded")--but the rest of the symphony is just as joyous, containing some particularly brilliant writing for winds and (of course) horns. Symphony No. 75 is almost totally unknown, but aside from typically Haydnesque high-spirits, its Andante is a set of variations making obvious reference to "God Save the King". It thus anticipates the Mozartian slow movement of Symphony No. 98.

If you want to summarize the brilliance of Fey's period-influenced (but not slavishly so) interpretations, just listen to his handling of the brass parts at the climax of Symphony No. 70's triple-fugue. Those blasts from trumpets and horns that make the music sound so modern, so terrifying, are in the score. But no one has played them as Haydn wrote them before Fey. Similarly, the horn calls in the finale of La Chasse can't possibly be done at the basic presto that Haydn asks for, so Fey very intelligently slows down for them--and they sound wonderful. In short, these are brilliant, sympathetic interpretations, marvelously recorded. Don't miss this release!"
(ClassicsToday 10/10)