Die Presse: Haydn London Symphonies Nos. 94, 99 and 105

 Die Presse

 Walter Weideringer

 20 October 2021

Jubilation for Paavo Järvi and the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen with three symphonies by Joseph Haydn.

At the end, there was once again a punch line worthy of the great composer who was celebrated on this unusual evening. Yes, unusual: for who nowadays plays a programme consisting of three symphonies by Joseph Haydn, even if they are "Londoners"? Even this fantastic dozen has, after all, been somewhat lost from view: Sandwiched between the clichés of Mozart's soul-stroking loveliness and Beethoven's revolutionary paw, Haydn has been shunted off by the big orchestras to the original sound ensembles - or stolen from them by them.

Yet they do not dare to approach him very often: Giovanni Antonini is the laudable exception with his multi-year complete performance project. Paavo Järvi and the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen can also afford to concentrate: the successful duo has begun a Haydn focus and will give two guest performances of three London symphonies each, along with illuminating supplements, in the Konzerthaus cycle "Symphonie classique”.

This time, a small pastiche arranged by Gerard McBurney has illuminated Haydn's folk music sources: The final theme of Symphony No. 104 with its imitated hurdy-gurdy sounds can be traced directly back to the Croatian "Oj, Jelena". This was one of Haydn's particular strengths, the combination of the popular and the scholarly, spiced with a variety of humour.

Soloistic somersaults

Järvi and his musicians have a particular penchant for this - and showed it not only, but also in the minuets, which have long since left the courtly parquet in favour of the bourgeois dance floor. But already in the first movement of the "Paukenschlag-Symphonie" there was a delicious Hmtata, in the underestimated number 99 the soloistic somersaults of the wind instruments (with clarinets!) were a delight in the finale. And in the final number 104, everything came to the fore once again: Seriousness and grandeur, bouncy rhythms at brisk but not frantic tempi, baroque austerity, contrapuntal art, exuberant joy in playing.

And the final punch line? Before the encore, Järvi turned once more meaningfully and mischievously promised the audience: "Haydn!"The popular Serenade from Opus 3 followed, played with enormous delicacy and finally softened into a silk thread pianissimo. Only, as has been discovered in the meantime, it was not written by Haydn at all. . .

-Die Presse