Haydn in Paris
Nowadays, no one would seriously think of doubting Joseph Haydn's status as one of the leading representatives of Viennese Classicism and a first-rate composer in the history of music. Nevertheless, there is still a lot of catching up to do in terms of the practical appreciation of his work. For example, there has not yet been a complete recording of the symphonies on period instruments by a single ensemble. The commendable Haydn 2032 music project was launched to realize an ambitious vision: Under the musical direction of Giovanni Antonini, all 107 symphonies are to be performed in historical performance practice in a concert cycle throughout Europe by the composer's 300th birthday in 2032 and subsequently released on recordings. One part of the concept is to combine Haydn's symphonies with selected works by his contemporaries, but there are also regular programs featuring Haydn alone.

The eleventh installment of the Haydn 2032 project on ALPHA CLASSICS, this time again with the established Basel Chamber Orchestra, turns to the French metropolis of Paris, one of the most important musical centers of Europe in the 18th century, where the reception of Haydn's music began particularly early and which helped to establish his European fame. And so not only the two well-known "Paris Symphonies" Nos. 87 and 82, composed especially for the Parisian concert company Concert de la Loge Olympique, are included here, but also the much earlier Symphonies Nos. 2 (ca. 1761) and 24 (1764). The former was the first of the composer's symphonies to be published in print in France, while the latter was the first known to have been performed in Paris.