Robin Ticciati & SCO - Haydn: Symphonies 31, 70 & 101 - The Sunday Times

Ticciati's decision to programme three symphonies in D major from different stages of Haydn's career is a clever and attractive one. Of his 104 numbered works in the genre, there is scarcely a dud, but these are all gems: No 31 comes from the so-called Sturm und Drang period (1760s), No 70 was written to mark the rebuilding of the burnt-down Eszterhaza Opera House (1778), while No 101 is the genial "Clock", from his masterly London set. The SCO revel in the brio, dash and pathos of this life-enhancing music.