Joseph Haydn - Haydn 2032, Vol. 20. For English Gentlemen (Giovanni Antonini)

Information

• Joseph Haydn - Symphony No. 78 in C Minor, Hob. I:78
• Joseph Haydn - Symphony No. 77 in B-Flat Major, Hob. I:77
• Johann Christian Bach - 6 Symphonies, Op. 6: No. 6 in G Minor
• Joseph Haydn - Symphony No. 76 in E-Flat Major, Hob. I:76

Kammerorchester Basel

Giovanni Antonini, conductor

Date: 2026

Label: Alpha Classics

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The twentieth volume of the complete Haydn symphonies series, led by conductor Giovanni Antonini, explores Joseph Haydn’s resounding popularity in 1790s England. Performed by the Kammerorchester Basel, the album features Haydn’s Symphonies Nos. 76, 77, and 78—works that reached London audiences during the 1782 Grand Concert season, following the death of concert director Johann Christian Bach. In tribute to the youngest son of J.S. Bach, the recording also includes J.C. Bach’s stormily dramatic Symphony in G minor, Op. 6 No. 6. Enhanced by Antonini’s insightful liner notes examining Haydn’s distinctive "humore inglese," this release delivers a sophisticated portrait of 18th-century cross-cultural musical exchange.

Giovanni Antonini, born in 1965 in Milan, studied at the Civica Scuola di Musica and the Centre de Musique Ancienne in Geneva. He co-founded and has led the ensemble Il Giardino Armonico since 1989, performing globally. He collaborates with prominent artists such as Cecilia Bartoli, Isabelle Faust, Sol Gabetta, and Viktoria Mullova. Antonini serves as Principal Guest Conductor of the Kammerorchester Basel and Mozarteum Orchester Salzburg and regularly leads major orchestras including the Berliner Philharmoniker and London Symphony. He has conducted opera at La Scala, Salzburg Festival, and Opernhaus Zurich, recorded for major labels, and directs the Wratislavia Cantans Festival and the Haydn 2032 project to perform and record all of Haydn’s symphonies.