I’ve listened to this one a few times now: on the way to dinner a few days ago, yesterday while poking around on the computer, and at least one other time I’ve now forgotten. I’ve gotten in the habit of not writing these up immediately, but listening to the symphony two or three times over the course of days.

Haydn

The first couple of times I listened to this one, I listened to the version by Academy of Ancient Music/Christopher Hogwood. That’s been my go-to move lately — I haven’t listened to any other version for the last several symphonies. But this one just wasn’t doing much for me, and I figured I’d been over-relying on those recordings, so I also checked out the version by Adam Fischer and Austro-Hungarian Haydn Orchestra. They definitely felt different from each other; the Hogwood is lighter and more delicate sounding, while the Fischer is louder and punchier. I appreciated the change.

My favorite two movements were the first (‘Allegro molto’) and last (‘Presto’). The first kicked off energetically and featured a nifty little downward run as it slid into the minor key sections — an example of something I thought the Fischer recording rendered more clearly than the Hogwood. The ‘Presto’ had lots of festive trilling and some smooth dramatic turns that felt somewhat unique among the symphonies so far, only slightly brought down by a slow part in the middle that seems to get lost in thought before snapping back to attention.

The other two movements were inoffensive. The second movement (‘Andante cantabile’) was pleasantly tranquil, but by the third (‘Minuet & trio’) the symphony had become pretty dull, seemingly hesitant to do anything too interesting, and was partially rescued by a decent presto.

Length: 18:12
Next up: Symphony No. 25