Not sure the music is either ‘noble’ or ‘elegant’. Haydn put together this six-movement symphony from the incidental music he wrote to accompany a stage farce performed at Eszterhaza - a German translation of a French play ‘Le distrait’ - which was about a forgetful man. Haydn afterwards re-cycled the music as a symphony which was given an Italian title *Il distratto,* and it makes a fantastic half-hour’s entertainment. When later the Empress asked to hear the symphony again, Haydn dismissed work as ‘…that old nonsense’.
Bravi tutti; what a fantastic performance. I was so pleased that the audience enjoyed it so much and responded with such genuine, prolonged, and richly-deserved applause.
