Haydn Szell

[Barbirollians]

I assume the grim reaper stopped Szell completing his accounts of the London Symphonies ?

The first six are available on Sony and heavens are they good ! Such precision and flair together.

[jayne lee wilson]

I assume the grim reaper stopped Szell completing his accounts of the London Symphonies ?

The first six are available on Sony and heavens are they good ! Such precision and flair together.

He recorded 88, 99 and 104 in Cleveland in the mid-1950s.... various CD (re)-issues (UA, Columbia etc), which I've never actually heard...

[Dave2002]

He recorded 88, 99 and 104 in Cleveland in the mid-1950s.... various CD (re)-issues (UA, Columbia etc), which I've never actually heard...

This CD - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Haydn-Sinfo...SIN=B00ZIXORQM shows

88 1956
92 1961
99 1954
104 1957 all in mono.

93 with the VPO was recorded in 1954 -

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Symphony-No-93-Szell-Vso/dp/B000028B0L?SubscriptionId=AKIAILSHYYTFIVPWUY6Q&tag=duckduckgo-ffnt-uk-21&linkCode=xm2&camp=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=B000028B0L

I think, though I'm not absolutely sure, that some of the symphonies were recorded again in stereo with the Cleveland Orchestra - and were originally on the CBS label - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Haydn-Symph...gateway&sr=8-2

and https://www.amazon.co.uk/Haydn-Symph...gateway&sr=8-3 - though I can't see any indication on the CD covers that those are actualy in stereo. Those CDs are the ones I have - and they are indeed good.

He also performed and recorded some with other orchestras - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Szell-Brahm...SIN=B01KASMYIM

The fairly cheap Membran box has 88,97 and 104
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Eleganz-Fin...gateway&sr=8-6 but again they are in mono, and the recordings date from 1954, 1955 and 1957.

With somewhat limited evidence it's hard to know whether he ever performed and/or recorded 100-103, and whether he ever intended to make any more recordings. This article suggests that he deliberately constrained his repertoire later in life, though what the basis was for any inclusions/omissions is seemingly unknown - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Szell

[cloughie]

He recorded 88, 99 and 104 in Cleveland in the mid-1950s.... various CD (re)-issues (UA, Columbia etc), which I've never actually heard...

These are all in the Szell Haydn Symphonies Sony 4CD box released a few years ago! There is also a coupling of 92 and Mozart 35 and VC5 (Morini) with the French National Radio Orchestra.

[mathias broucek]

I guess back then "complete cycle" was less of a thing than now

I wonder if that was in part because the cost of large LP box sets meant they perhaps didn't sell well? Often today's CD reissues are cheaper in nominal terms than LP boxes from back in the day

[Stanfordian]

I assume the grim reaper stopped Szell completing his accounts of the London Symphonies ?

The first six are available on Sony and heavens are they good ! Such precision and flair together.

I have Szell conducting Haydn, the early London Symphonies, with the Cleveland Orchestra. They are really very good indeed.

[HighlandDougie]

From the big Szell box:

Symphony No. 88 - recorded 9 April 1954
Symphony No.92 - recorded 27 April 1949 & recorded 20 October 1961
Symphony No.93 - recorded 19 April 1968
Symphony No. 94 - recorded 5 May 1967
Symphony No. 95 - recorded 17/18 January 1969
Symphony No. 96 - recorded 11/12 October 1968
Symphony No. 97 - recorded 25 October 1957 & 3/6 October 1969
Symphony No. 98 - recorded 10 October 1969
Symphony No. 99 - recorded 26 October 1957
Symphony No. 104 - recorded 9 April 1954

As he died on 30 July 1970, I think that Barbs's "grim reaper" surmise is probably correct as he suffered from cancer in the last months of his life. He linked the recording of No.97 to concert performances, with No. 98 also being recorded to allow for an issue of both symphonies. This followed an established pattern for Szell, the Orchestra and Columbia Records. After those recordings he spent the rest of 1969 as the NYPO's "caretaker" music director in the interregnum between Bernstein and Boulez, then returned to Cleveland in early 1970. As Haydn did not feature in the subsequent concert programmes, no plans seem to have been made for further recordings in this period (he conducted the NYPO in No. 88 but that would have broken the Cleveland/Haydn link, had Columbia decided to record Szell with the NYPO). So, my supposition would be that further recordings would have been made, had the unrecorded/recorded in mono symphonies been programmed in Cleveland concerts. But it's all fruitless speculation as his death intervened. There's a description in George Szell - A Life of Music by Michael Charry of the orchestra's final tour to the Far East, stopping off for a final - and Szell's last - concert in Anchorage, which all sounds a bit grim for someone who was dying.

[Dave2002]

From the big Szell box:

Symphony No. 88 - recorded 9 April 1954
Symphony No.92 - recorded 27 April 1949 & recorded 20 October 1961
Symphony No.93 - recorded 19 April 1968
Symphony No. 94 - recorded 5 May 1967
Symphony No. 95 - recorded 17/18 January 1969
Symphony No. 96 - recorded 11/12 October 1968
Symphony No. 97 - recorded 25 October 1957 & 3/6 October 1969
Symphony No. 98 - recorded 10 October 1969
Symphony No. 99 - recorded 26 October 1957
Symphony No. 104 - recorded 9 April 1954

As he died on 30 July 1970, I think that Barbs's "grim reaper" surmise is probably correct as he suffered from cancer in the last months of his life.

Plausible, as some of the recordings were made in the year before he died. It does seem that he was perhaps encouraged to remake some of the earlier mono recordings for stereo. On the other hand, he doesn't seem to have rushed to fill in the gaps with performances which date back to 1949 and maybe even further back with other orchestras.

[Barbirollians]

93-98 are pretty dazzling - I think they are in the big Sony box but I picked them up very cheaply at Amazon marketplace in the old Sony Essential Classics series .

[mathias broucek]

Great performance all - and not "unsmiling" or heavy

[Conchis]

I have quite a few Haydn sets, though none complete. Szell's recordings are not among them.

Haydn is the 'relaxing' composer par excellence. I once heard a programme on R3 about how listening closely and without distractions can yield dividends. 'Haydn is not a composer for lazy minds', the presenter concluded.

I don't think he could write a tune to save his life and all of his works commit the fatal sin of 'lacking genius' but I can entirely understand why more energetic listeners than me enjoy him. An elderly friend of mine had the ideal death - in bed, reading while listening to Haydn on the radio.

[vinteuil]

I don't think he could write a tune to save his life ...

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2IaFaJrmno

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[cloughie]

I have quite a few Haydn sets, though none complete. Szell's recordings are not among them.

Haydn is the 'relaxing' composer par excellence. I once heard a programme on R3 about how listening closely and without distractions can yield dividends. 'Haydn is not a composer for lazy minds', the presenter concluded.

I don't think he could write a tune to save his life and all of his works commit the fatal sin of 'lacking genius' but I can entirely understand why more energetic listeners than me enjoy him. An elderly friend of mine had the ideal death - in bed, reading while listening to Haydn on the radio.

There you go again - is this the great Haydn wind up - you’ve got 106, maybe more reasons to moan!

[mathias broucek]

all of his works commit the fatal sin of 'lacking genius'

Not sure about this. I tend to agree that the "peaks" of Haydn are lower than the peaks of Mozart. On the other hand, he was FAR more consistent. I don't think I've EVER heard a bad piece by Haydn (except those written for the Baryton....)

[vinteuil]

Not sure about this. I tend to agree that the "peaks" of Haydn are lower than the peaks of Mozart. On the other hand, he was FAR more consistent. I don't think I've EVER heard a bad piece by Haydn (except those written for the Baryton....)

... for me - the masses, quartets, piano sonatas, and symphonies of Haydn are even more rewarding than those of Mozart. I grant you Mozart's superiority when it comes to operas.

And the baryton works are a joy ....



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