Search - Various :: Haydn: Three Favorite Concertos

This excellent disc brings together three superb performances of three of Haydn's best concertos. As a composer, Haydn wasn't really interested in the concerto as a form. He was the inventor of the classical symphony, and the entire orchestra was his instrument. For although he played violin, viola, keyboard, and timpani, he wasn't known as an outstanding virtuoso on any of them. This makes him the first truly professional composer (as opposed to a performer who composed) in the history of music. Even Mozart and Beethoven were pianists first, and composers second. It's also not surprising, then, that when he turned to the concerto he preferred less common instruments, like solo parts for cello or trumpet. He even wrote a concerto for double bass, alas lost. But we have these three great works to console us. --David Hurwitz