Haydn Symphonies

Try the various Scherchen renditions, which were originally issued on Westminister. He recorded a complete set of the London Symphonies as well as other individual works. His version of Symphony 44 in E minor, The Trauer, is an inspired presentation. Monteux offers two great performances of the Clock & Surprise on RCA. Happy listening.

Roy Goodman with the Hanover Band. No contest.

He did not get much press in this area, however Leonard Berstein was an excellent Haydn interpreter. A safe bet is also Neville Marriner. Roy Goodman I believe is original instruments, so it IS or is NOT good depending on your personal tastes.

For the original instrument sound I far prefer Bruggen to Roy Goodman. For performances on modern instruments of the more obscure (and not so obscure) symphonies I have really enjoyed Fisher and the Austro Hungarian Haydn Orchestra. The notes that come with the Dorati set are unmatched

Check out a few of the London Symphonies conducted by Szell; I found them worthwhile. For the Paris, Karajan's reading is interesting, to say the least, for it is quite Beethovenish as explained. Never known for works on Haydn (didn't do many either if not almost none until his later year); however, the usual refinement of Karajan shows and is quite enjoyable. A friend of mine has Eugen Jochum on LP. When I sampled them, I quite liked them. If you find them on LP, try them and you won't be disappointed. I know for sure that DG has reissued his reading of the London symphonies on CD; yet, I have not found them for myself. It may be worthwhile to check out Hogwood, the backbone of my set; I love his works on J.S. Bach, Mozart, Haydn. etc.