CCMusic.com

In the 1980s, as the movement for historically informed performance was booming, there was a sudden flurry of attempts by period-instrument ensembles to record all of Haydn's 106 symphonies. It was perhaps inevitable that none of them would reach the summit of this musical Everest - most made it about halfway up to this ambitious and costly undertaking. One of these Haydn series that created a stir at the time was directed by the London-based violinist-conductor Derek Solomons. Between 1980 and 1986, he recorded 49 symphonies with his hand-picked ensemble, L'Estro Armonico. Sony Classical is now pleased to present all of these pioneering Haydn performances for the first time on CD. Included in this new collected edition of 18 newly mastered discs are several recordings never before issued in any medium. Although Derek Solomons's vision of performing all the symphonies with L'Estro Armonico would, sadly, never materialize, there was almost unanimous enthusiasm for the works that were ultimately recorded and released: "It would be hard to imagine performances of more freshness and conviction... One is impressed by the light-textured quality of the playing, it's neatness and precision... The string section is small... which enables the winds - especially the splendid high horns - to be heard with absolute clarity" (Gramophone).