David Harbin:

>I found a copy of the Philips Duo Davis/RCOA which includes Haydn 104.
>I like the performance very much but feel it is just missing that extra
>bite of a period performance.  Plus I want just a bit more fire.  Could
>anyone please recommend an alternative?  Is the Bruggen worth searching
>out?

There are two Duos by Bruggen of Haydn 93-104, with six symphonies in
each set, although Philips has not arranged them in order, so that if
you wanted, say, the last four symphonies, you'd need to buy both sets.
These are HIP, which usually means you get a deal more fire anyway, and
that is certainly true of these performances.  I learnt these symphonies
from the old Beecham recordings and although I liked them, hearing Mogens
Woldike's versions of Nos 103 and 104 was, as English reviewers are wont
to say, a revelation, and I hastily acquired his versions of other Haydn.
These are still knockout performances if you can find them - I think
they're still available - but failing that, Bruggen will do very well
indeed.

Richard Pennycuick
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