Bob Draper wrote about Haydn's Symphony Nr. 95:

>The minuet and trio I have seen criticised because the cello bit in middle
>is boring. Can you believe this? For me this is a spine tingling moment
>in a movement where Haydn is tearing up the rule books and appraoching
>Beethovian territory. Indeed the sleeve notes on the disc tell us that B
>took great interest in this work.  The trio is like a little cello concerto
>within the movement and when the orchestra returns to relieve the tension
>with the main theme I get a real buzz.
>
>Gorgeous stuff.

Agreed Bob.  But of course, let's not forget that H. had solos for
*double-bass* in the trios of some of his early Esterhazy symphonies (I'm
thinking of the Matin/Midi/Soir trilogy), with the cellos and bassoons
providing the "oom-pah" accompaniment, yet at a higher pitch than the
melody!  Real neat stuff, an inspiration perhaps born of his new-found
fortune of having an employer with such a skilled (though small) orchestra.

And the slow movement of Nr. 13 features the solo cello in a manner
that takes no back seat to his two known concerti for the instrument.

Bill H.