Haydn 2032, Vol. 1-10: The Symphonies

"Antonini and Il Giardino Armonico play this music for all its worth, with super-accurate violin work in fast scalic passages, wailing oboes and, of course, horns given headroom to pierce through the texture...On the evidence of this tautly played and imaginative programme, further instalments will be eagerly awaited." Gramophone (Vol 1)

"Antonini's spiky performance style, with period instruments playing at modern pitch, is sometimes a touch overheated, but there's no denying its effectiveness…and it's good to have these still underperformed pieces so vividly played and well recorded." BBC Music (Vol 2)

"As in the previous volumes, the orchestral playing is breathtaking in its accuracy - the sort of Haydn playing you dream of…this may well become the period-instrument Haydn cycle by which all others are measured." Gramophone (Vol 3)

"As in the previous volumes, the orchestral playing is breathtaking in its accuracy -the sort of Haydn playing you dream of…this may well become the period-instrument Haydn cycle by which all others are measured." Gramophone Awards 2017 Winner - Orchestral (Vol 4)

"The Basel Chamber Orchestra present a sound that is a touch sweeter than Il Giardino Armonico's, although that familiar period-instrument 'spit' is still never absent...That sweetness suits these later works, in which Haydn's pithy motivic writing is allied to a melodic breadth...This is another winning entry into Antonini's Haydn discography." Gramophone (Vol 5)

"There is no hint of the rehearse-record routine about the first six volumes, which he treats as "thematic programmes" built around the works with titles...It is electrifying: bracing in the allegros, never dawdling in slow movements." Sunday Times

"The Basel CO demonstrate how pinpoint precision and a depth of understanding, borne of performing and touring this music before recording it, pays dividends…The disc is filled out with a selection of Mozart's incidental music for Thamos, König in Ägypten…vividly capturing the greasepaint whiff of this richly dramatic music." Gramophone (Vol 7)

"Three Haydn symphonies receive spiffingly energetic performances...with La Roxolana (Symphony No 63) making a theatrical link and Mercury (No 43) taking the honours for sheer invention." Observer (Vol 8)

"Antonini's standing among the most vital of current Haydn conductors is as evident here in the hushed intensity he brings to the remote Adagio of the Farewell Symphony as it is in the driving impetus with which he dispatches its turbulent opening movement, and he draws a remarkable range of expressive nuances and powerful shocks from the modest period forces of Il Giardino Armonico." BBC Music Orchestral Choice March 2021 (Vol 9)

"As a trio of works they are boundless in invention. The clarity of the orchestration is made transparent and gleaming by the soloists of Il Giardino Armonico, who also make the most of every joke or surprise." The Guardian (Vol 10)