Valencia Baryton Project

Valencia Baryton Project – Haydn: Baryton Trios, Vol. 2 (2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 01:02:52 minutes | 2,44 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Naxos

The city of Eisenstadt was the location of the Esterhazy Court where Joseph Haydn was music director for 25 years. Prince Nikolaus commissioned Haydn to write trios for the baryton, an instrument on which the Prince had become proficient. The baryton is a bowed, stringed instrument similar to the viol but with extra plucked strings that can enable the performer to accompany themselves. For Nikolaus, Haydn wrote string trios of elegance, refinement and poise that encapsulate a rich variety of moods. Seldom performed or recorded, the baryton trios attest to Haydn’s limitless powers of invention in every medium.

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Valencia Baryton Project – Haydn: Baryton Trios (2021)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 01:06:19 minutes | 1,25 GB | Genre: Classical
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Naxos

Much of Franz Joseph Haydn’s long career was in service as a court musician to the wealthy Esterh’azy family. It was early in Haydn’s time at the Esterh’aza palace that Prince Nicolaus took a liking to the hypnotic sound of the baryton – a bowed instrument with an extra set of strings that vibrate sympathetically or are plucked for tonal contrast. The baryton was considered the pinnacle of 18th-century aristocratic instruments, and the outstanding beauty of Haydn’s Trios represent its final renaissance, placing this remarkable antique firmly into the poised and tasteful Classical style of the day.

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