Haydn: Symphonies Nos. 23, 24 & 61 – Northern Chamber Orchestra, Naxos (CD)

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Product Details

• UPC: 0730099572323
• Catalogue Number: 8.550723
• Brand/Label: Naxos
• Composer: Joseph Haydn
• Conductor: Nicholas Ward
• Ensemble: Northern Chamber Orchestra
• Release Year: 1993 (recorded 1st–2nd October 1992)
• Genre: Classical – Symphony
• Country of Producing: [confirm] (no "Made in" line visible in the provided photos)

Product Features

• Format: Audio CD, DDD (fully digital recording)
• Total playing time: 56:12
• Series: Naxos Haydn Symphonies, Vol. 8
• Cover artwork: The Theatre in Vienna (period painting)

Overview

Haydn's middle-period symphonies rarely get the spotlight, which makes this Vol. 8 entry in Naxos's complete cycle worth a closer look. Symphonies Nos. 23 and 24 come from Haydn's early Esterházy years — compact, four-movement works still finding their footing, with No. 24 notable for handing its slow movement almost entirely to solo flute. No. 61, written two decades later in 1776, is a different animal: fuller textures, a seven-minute opening Vivace, and a finale marked Prestissimo that the Northern Chamber Orchestra takes at a genuinely breathless clip. Nicholas Ward leads with the light touch this repertoire needs — small forces, quick tempos, no Romantic-era padding. Recorded digitally at Manchester's New Broadcasting House in October 1992, the sound is clean and close, letting the woodwind writing (especially in No. 24) come through clearly. A solid entry point for anyone working through Haydn's symphonic output chronologically, or just after a well-played, unfussy chamber-orchestra Haydn disc.

Interesting Facts

• Symphony No. 24's slow movement is written as a near-concerto for solo flute, an unusual choice for Haydn's early symphonic output.
• No. 61 was composed in 1776, roughly two decades after Nos. 23 and 24, and shows Haydn's growing command of orchestral scale even within a compact four-movement form.
• This recording is part of Naxos's complete Haydn symphony cycle, one of the most extensive budget-label recording projects of its kind.
• The Northern Chamber Orchestra, founded in Manchester, built much of its reputation on exactly this kind of lean, historically-informed approach to Classical-era repertoire.
• Music notes for the release were written by Keith Anderson, a longtime Naxos annotator known for accessible, non-academic programme notes.

Track Listing

Symphony No. 24 in D Major, Hob.I:24

1. Allegro – 5:34
2. Adagio – 4:27
3. Menuet – 3:25
4. Finale: Allegro – 4:51

Symphony No. 23 in G Major, Hob.I:23

1. Allegro – 4:22
2. Andante – 5:19
3. Menuet – 2:43
4. Finale: Presto assai – 2:41

Symphony No. 61 in D Major, Hob.I:61

1. Vivace – 7:24
2. Adagio – 7:41
3. Menuet – 4:30
4. Prestissimo – 3:15

Publishers

Naxos, part of the Naxos Music Group, recorded at the Concert Hall of New Broadcasting House, Manchester (producers Paul Hindmarsh and David Ellis, engineer Don Hartridge).

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