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Rating: 
Summary: Another excellent audio-biography from Siepmann
Review: So far, the Naxos Life and Works series has given us boxed sets of CDs with the lives and works of Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, Chopin, Liszt, Mozart, Tchaikovsky, and Verdi. They have all been written and narrated by Jeremy Siepmann with the assistance of actors such as David Timson. To this impressive series we can now add "Joseph Haydn" (8.558091-94) on four CDs with a running time of 4 1/2 hours.The running theme throughout this audiobiography is Haydn's marvelous sense of humor. This trait can be spotted from his music alone, but it is good to hear all the wonderful anecdotes concerning it that fill this recording. Musicians will be impressed by Haydn's loyalty to his players and the remarkable tact he showed in swaying his "serene highness" bosses to his way of thinking. The recorded text is supported by many musical examples drawn from the deep pool of Naxos recordings. As with other entries in these series, I feel that some of them are a bit too long; but after all, the title of the series is Life and WORKS. David Timson is the voice of Haydn, and he is supported by actors Sam Dastor, Nigel Anthony, Steve Hodson, Roger May, and Frances Jeater.
As always with these Naxos sets, the booklet alone is worth the price you pay for the whole product. Its 146 pages include eight sections: Track lists, cast, historical background, Haydn in his time, his major works and their significance, a graded reading plan, recommended reading, personalities, a calendar of Haydn's life, a glossary, and advice on how to use the CD-ROM feature of these discs. Highly recommended, as is the entire series.
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