The Combattimento Consort Amsterdam has the rather deadpan attitude often adopted by Baroque specialist groups that venture forward into the repertory of the Classical period. With Haydn that attitude can sometimes seem too restrained, but in this particular case it works well. For one thing, it gives room to cellist Quirine Viersen, whose low-key humor could easily be overwhelmed but brings out lots of subtle turns of phrase in Haydn's solo writing. The large opening movement of the Cello Concerto No. 1 in C major, Hob. 7b ...
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The Combattimento Consort Amsterdam has the rather deadpan attitude often adopted by Baroque specialist groups that venture forward into the repertory of the Classical period. With Haydn that attitude can sometimes seem too restrained, but in this particular case it works well. For one thing, it gives room to cellist Quirine Viersen, whose low-key humor could easily be overwhelmed but brings out lots of subtle turns of phrase in Haydn's solo writing. The large opening movement of the Cello Concerto No. 1 in C major, Hob. 7b/1, is a tour de force of playfulness in its development section, and the ensemble as a whole strikes a good balance between cello and orchestra; the passages in which Haydn uses the lowest register of the cello to comic effect are given a light touch that would be hard to achieve with a conventional orchestra. The odd six-movement Symphony No. 60, originally written as incidental music for a play, also works well, for the orchestra's circumspection sets off the absolutely outrageous...
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