and the Joseph Haydn Stiftung of Basel and Alpha recording label have jointly committed themselves to recording a complete cycle of the composer’s symphonies in time for the celebrations.

But, happily, this is where CDs fill the gap. It’s more than 40 years now since the Dorati/Decca complete cycle of Haydn’s symphonies came out, to huge applause, and there have been several since.

Papa Haydn earned that nickname for both symphony and string quartet. So maybe we need to take a closer look at Haydn. That’s exactly what conductor Giovanni Antonini is doing with Haydn2032 ...