This first New Series release by the Munich Chamber Orchestra under its new artistic director, Alexander Liebreich, is a striking coupling of two minor-key Haydn symphonies – the first on the label – with the melodious Chamber Symphony by Korean composer Isang Yun. Haydn’s Symphony No 39 and the famous ‘Farewell’ Symphony (No 45) are played with vitality and subtleness while the similarly-scored Yun work is a particular favourite of the conductor.

Between 1765 and 1772 Haydn had an obvious predilection for minor-key symphonies and for unconventional formal designs, a fact that has led musicologists to speak of his musical “Sturm und Drang” (Storm and Stress) in analogy to the literary movement in Germany during the same period. While the Symphony No 39 in G minor is characterised by strong rhythmic energy, the famous ‘Farewell’ Symphony is full of surprises and one of Haydn’s most compelling early works. Both are played here with vitality and subtleness.

The combination with the melodious first Chamber Symphony by Isang Yun for identical forces is unconventional only at first sight. Liebreich met Yun’s family during several tours of South and North Korea and a visiting professorship in Pyongyang, even working with the orchestra that Yun founded there. "Yun means a great deal to me personally but it also seems natural to pair these two composers in view of the similarities in their scoring, especially the way they handle the winds."