Repertoire: The IDEAL Haydn Oratorios 

Fun, insightful, useful. Thanks!

Haydn’s choral works are earth shattering. Greatness.

Thank you for expanding my knowledge of Haydn and his masterpieces. A great way to begin the weekend, I have heard the creation which is amazing. I will give the seasons and stabat mater a shot, Haydn has become one of my favorites composers.

My favorite period Seasons is unquestionably Rene Jacob's for its uninhibited joy, excitement, vivid tone painting. Jacobs' other work sometimes annoys me but not here. My favorite modern instrument version is in English, the Colin Davis version with the BBC Symphony, the one with Harper and Shirley-Quirk. Pacing is ideal, though not as unbuttoned as Jacobs can be. Davis was so good with Haydn and this recording is nearly contemporary with his great Philips Messiah. If one can find it, Beecham's stereo big band version is fun and elegant, but with some cuts and his idiosyncratic text, both verbal (his own translation) and musical. In German, modern instruments, absolutely, Dave is right about the Boehm.

Great intro to the Haydn oratotios I only heard of but never listened to . I look forward to exploring the Stabat, Mater, Tobias' Return, and the Seven Last Words oratorio version. As for The Season's horn calls: many years ago, I walked in to the wonderful Berkeley, CA, record shop-cum-cafe The Musical Offering, and was shattered by horn calls I never had heard before (I did not expect to make such a grand entrance...:-) ). I asked what this music and who its composer was. The salesperson's reply: Haydn, The Seasons, recorded by Rene Jacobs and his friends in Freiburg. Needless to say I left the store with this recording, not before celebrating this feat by sitting down and sipping a cappuccino while engulfed in Haydn's magnificent music. Tempi passati ... full of wonderful memories of The Musical Offering. Thankfully, the store-cafe-bistro still exists today. Anyone reading this and about to visit Berkeley: please DO make your pilgrimage to this unique shop (and hop into the bookstore next door too!). A special note to UC Berkeley post-graduate students: this is the perfect environment - music-, beverage-, and food-wise - to discuss one's doctoral thesis with professor and/or peers.

Absolutely love Böhm’s Seasons…great all round, but especially for the heavenly voice of Gundula Janowitz. She shines in this.

Thank you for kicking off with Haydn's Stabat Mater. I must admit I have spent evenings and afternoons listening to various Stabat Mater and Requiem recordings of various composers in the company of my best friend quite some years ago. And we really enjoyed the Pinnock recording when it was released and I still loving introducing people to this work. Thank you for unleashing some fond memories.

Another super vlog here Dave. Watched this on Friday evening and yesterday I managed to find a cd of the Pinnock Stabat Mater in a local second hand sale. Great timing!

Did Hadyn take any time to eat. Man, that guy was prolific! And he did it all without any modern conveniences. He used an outhouse. Lovely.

I was delighted that your ideal list of Haydn oratorios included the three less popular works, all of which belong to the composer's top drawer. Your choice of the Hengelbrock "Creation" reminded me that among the many recordings you have inspired me to purchase, the Hengelbrock/Balthasar-Neumann Choir set has given me perhaps the most enjoyment. Many thanks for that. My personal pick for the "Creation" has never wavered from Bernstein's first recording--thrills, spills, chills and all. What a romp it is. I do enjoy the Böhm "Seasons" a lot for its grandeur and splendid singing. Böhm was anything but a stereotypical "cranky old German," and his best work had enormous vitality and splendor, even if his tempos are slower in Haydn and Mozart than is fashionable today. However my earlier preference for Böhm's "Seasons" has more recently been displaced by Solti's wonderful late recording which displays a joyful abandon we don't always associate with that conductor. The singing, if anything, is even better than on the Böhm recording. But both are great. Now what about Haydn operas? They've never caught on with me, but you might be able to convince this listener to try again.

My ideal of the later three: Beecham's Seasons in English is a lot of fun, I like Davis too. Creation, I have to go with Karajan. 7 last words: I'm partial to the Jurowski performance on the LPO label. Guess I gotta learn the other two.

This I’ll be hearing, asap!

Some words of unrestrained recommendation: If you think you know what coloratura singing is about just wait til you've heard Barbara Hendricks in Raffaelle's aria "Anna, m'ascolta!" on Dorati's "Il returno di Tobia" where she apart from dazzling pyrotechnics demonstrates her unique gift of possessing a timbre that is both seducingly sexy and childishly innocently at the very same time. Now that adds some intricate layers of significance.... And Dorati is just sooooo perfect in this music 😍 And Yeah! Another Inga Nielsen discovery that I didn't know about as well as laurels to Johannes Mannow - the Jeremy Irons baritone lookalike. Thank you Maestro Hurwitz!

Thank you for the useful tips! It's good of you to mention a period instrument recording of The Creation. I've been thinking about getting to know one. So far my favorite "Creation" is the one by Leonard Bernstein with Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and Choir.

I'm absolutely in love with Il Ritorno di Tobia. One of the best pieces I've ever heard, and much more interesting musically and thematically than the other two oratorios, in my opinion. If there is an interest, I uploaded some videos that combine classical art based on the Tobit story with some arias and a chorus taken from that AMAZING Naxos recording.

May we please have a repertoire list of Haydn's masses (at least the last six or so)?

Dave what do you think about spering's creation on naxos ? I find it the right compromise between period instrument practices and modern instruments.

Solti did with Chicago The Seasons I had both versions at home. Bohm.and Solti I had a preference for Solti

Did you do a talk just on The Creation? I was looking for it, but didn't manage to find it. I guess I'll look harder.

Thanks Dave- I’ll have to check out some of these recordings I haven’t heard. Can certainly vouch for Pinnock’s Stabat Mater. What about Applausus? Isn’t that an oratorio? I think a newer recording of this came out in the last year or so, but I haven’t heard it.

Couldn't agree more about the Bohm recording of The Seasons: it's one of my favourite choral recordings - and the work's essential modernity. (Though The Representation of Chaos at the opening of The Creation is another Haydn harbinger of modernity.) Frankly, I prefer the The Seasons to The Creation: I find the second half of the latter drags a little until you get to the final chorus. I have a soft spot for Bernstein's recording of The Creation with the Bavarian Radio Symphony on DG - even if the tempi are rather self-consciously slow to modern ears. Have you heard Paul McCreesh / the Gabrieli Consort's recordings of the works? The Creation is on DG and the The Seasons is (I think) on Winged Lion (which I think is Gabrieli's own label). I quite enjoy them both - as I do most of McCreesh / Gabrieli's work; possibly because at least they can play loud - unlike most period instrument people!