The conducting by Jansons is excellent, the Berlin Philharmonic players superior -- but the best part of this DVD isn't featured on the cover! It's the half hour documentary about Haydn's life and the humor in his music, hitting all the high points in his biography and clarifying, as much as is possible with our 20th/21st century ears, his method of drawing smiles, chuckles and even guffaws from his listeners. This is a starter kit for the curious. Bonus: unlike so many composer biographies by the journalistically-challenged, there are no major errors. Whoever put this together really did his homework.
