Haydn's Haus

[Leo K.]

I LOVE this disk of arias sung by Margot Oitzinger! I'll have to revist this as soon as I can in order to comment more. 

[Gurn Blanston]

I LOVE this disk of arias sung by Margot Oitzinger! I'll have to revisit this as soon as I can in order to comment more. 

Me too. The singing and playing are great, and the music itself, well, you can tell it was personal. Between that disk and this one;



one can have nearly all of the replacement arias. Which is a good thing.

[Antoine Marchand]

Part 28

1779

Hob 28_09 Opera L'isola disabitata
   Chamber Orchestra of Lausanne / Dorati  Zoghby / Lerer / Alva / Bruson


And finally, L'isola disabitata (The Desert Island). An opera seria (azione teatrale) on a libretto by the incomparable Metastasio. It was first performed on Nikolaus' name day, December 6, 1779. This is a really nice little opera, the poetry is of the highest standard, and Haydn wrote music that matched it. We have Dorati again, but there are other versions of this one that I have been trying to get my hands on. I got seriously outbid on eBay at my last effort, but for now, I, and you, will be quite content with Dorati.

Yes, this one:

[asin]B00005MKF4[/asin]

... a nice version played on period instruments, indeed.

"If only Paris could hear my opera L'isola disabitata! I assure you that Paris has never heard any music like it, no more than Vienna. My misfortune is to live in the country...".

[Gurn Blanston]

Yes, this one:

[asin]B00005MKF4[/asin]

... a nice version played on period instruments, indeed.

"If only Paris could hear my opera L'isola disabitata! I assure you that Paris has never heard any music like it, no more than Vienna. My misfortune is to live in the country...".

Yes, that's one. I bid $46 on it when last I saw it, and got dusted at the end. So it goes.

I like that quote, I find it amusing how from one time to the next, he feels either very fortunate or very unfortunate to live in the country.

[mszczuj]

So, there is the first part of scans of the Dorati EOC booklets - L'infedeltà delusa.

http://www.4shared.com/zip/EbysqBKK/linfedel.html

Notes and synopsis in English then original and English libretto.

It was not very easy in the beginning as my scanner emerged rather bookletproof. But I hope next uploads will be done better and faster.

I will highly appreciate any remarks and advices about scanning technique.

[mszczuj]

Castagno, castagna!

The second part of the Dorati EOC booklets - L'incontro improvviso

http://www.4shared.com/zip/hQZ-Iup5/lincoimp.html

[Gurn Blanston]

They came out great! Thank you very much for that fine Christmas present!

And I just take a minute to wish everyone a Merry Christmas, or Happy Holiday of their choice. Mine was on the 22nd, a lovely day.

Best Wishes all, and thanks again to Mszczuj,

[Karl Henning]

Thank you much, Leo. I am delighted that it is helpful to quite a few people now. Especially, I am pleased about the discovery of the earlier works. I think that people have a habit (well, I know they do) of comparing, for example, a symphony form 1758 to one from 1794, and concluding that the early one is no good because it doesn't match the quality of the later one. I see that sentiment expressed frequently, although not always with Haydn, necessarily, but I seen Mozart operas compared with Wagner's!

Not to Mozart's disadvantage, surely? ; )

[Gurn Blanston]

Not to Mozart's disadvantage, surely? ; )

Well, not reasonably, of course.




----------------
Now playing:


London Symphony Orchestra \ Sir Charles Mackerras - Tchaikovsky Op 71  Ballet 'The Nutcracker' pt 21 - Act II Scene 14 - Variation I: Tarantella

[mszczuj]

This was the challenge!

Third part of the EOC booklets - Il mondo della luna

http://www.4shared.com/zip/KauEL425/ilmondllun.html

[Gurn Blanston]

This was the challenge!

Third part of the EOC booklets - Il mondo della luna

http://www.4shared.com/zip/KauEL425/ilmondllun.html

Yes, but you did a great job on it. Are those from the Philips set? They make buying the singles worth the extra, just a cursory reading shows them to be very informative. I'll have to spend some serious time with them.

[mszczuj]

Yes, but you did a great job on it. Are those from the Philips set?

Yes. I'm really glad that after 15 years of waiting they can be useful again.

[Gurn Blanston]

Yes. I'm really glad that after 15 years of waiting they can be useful again.

Have they been lurking back there for that long then? Well, I suppose that I have some things that have sat for that long too. I see now why when these show up on eBay there is such a furious bidding for them. Fortunately, I am skilled enough with a desktop publishing program to be able to turn these pictures into a booklet that appears as the original.

[mszczuj]

The fourth part of EOC booklets - La vera costanza

http://www.4shared.com/zip/hiYkJMrz/lavercos.html

[mszczuj]

And the fifth - L'isola disabitata

http://www.4shared.com/zip/O0StNUtA/lisoldis.html

[Antoine Marchand]

Haydn didn't apparently compose Christmas music (or at least it hasn't been conserved), but today is a good day to commemorate two hundred and thirty years of the Opus 33 (the so-called "Russian Quartets", among other names) which was premiered on Christmas day, 1781, at the Viennese apartment of the Grand Duchess Maria Feodorovna, wife of the Grand Duke (and future Tsar) Paul of Russia. 

[asin]B001TKUB3G[/asin]

[Gurn Blanston]

Haydn didn't apparently compose Christmas music (or at least it hasn't been conserved), but today is a good day to commemorate the two hundred and thirty years of the Opus 33 (the so-called "Russian Quartets, among other names) which was premiered on Christmas day, 1781, at the Viennese apartment of the Grand Duchess Maria Feodorovna, wife of the Grand Duke (and future Tsar) Paul of Russia. 

Indeed, 230 years is a perfect round number, worth celebrating! Thanks for the reminder, Antoine!

And the fifth - L'isola disabitata
http://www.4shared.com/zip/O0StNUtA/lisoldis.html

And thanks again to you, mszczuj, this is looking better all the time. No more wondering what is being sung!   

[kishnevi]

Indeed, 230 years is a perfect round number, worth celebrating! Thanks for the reminder, Antoine!

And thanks again to you, mszczuj, this is looking better all the time. No more wondering what is being sung!   

And tomorrow (Monday the 26th--which may be today by the time some of you read this) will be the 215th anniversary of the probable first performance of the Missa in tempore belli (26 Dec. 1796)

[Gurn Blanston]

Part 29

1780

By now, Haydn is on his way to being a very popular and famous person indeed. In the 1760 and early '70's, his music was known and highly admired by connoisseurs and other musicians. By now though, he was moving into a period where he was famous even among interested amateurs. His first publication on his own, the Auenbrugger sonatas, dedicated to sisters who were also his students, was a hit for Artaria. This would have hardly been possible before the reworked contract of the previous year. Completed by the end of the year, and published in mid-1781, came the 12 Lieder with Clavier, another popular best-seller. And for Esterházy, 2 nice symphonies, and of course, an opera. This is the sort of balance that would maintain for the next decade, until the death of Nicolaus in 1790. Some for the Prince, some for the world.

The music of 1780;
Hob 01a_17 La Fedeltà Premiata: Sinfonia in D
   Manfred Huss / Haydn Sinfonietta Wien


Hob 01_062 Symphony in D
   Academy of Ancient Music / Hogwood
Hob 01_074 Symphony in Eb
   The Hanover Band / Goodman


Hob 24b_05 Aria for Baritone "Dice benissimo"
   Manfred Huss / Haydn Sinfonietta Wien   Ivan Paley (Bar)


Hob 26a_01 Lied for Soprano and Fortepiano "Das strickende Mädchen"
Hob 26a_02 Lied for Soprano and Fortepiano "Cupido"
Hob 26a_03 Lied for Soprano and Fortepiano "Der erste Kuss"
Hob 26a_04 Lied for Soprano and Fortepiano "Eine sehr gewöhnliche Geschichte"
Hob 26a_05 Lied for Soprano and Fortepiano "Die Verlassene"
Hob 26a_06 Lied for Soprano and Fortepiano "Der Gleichsinn"
Hob 26a_07 Lied for Soprano and Fortepiano "An Iris"   
Hob 26a_08 Lied for Soprano and Fortepiano "An Thyrsis"
Hob 26a_09 Lied for Soprano and Fortepiano "Trost unglücklicher Liebe"
Hob 26a_10 Lied for Soprano and Fortepiano "Die Landlust"
Hob 26a_11 Lied for Soprano and Fortepiano "Liebeslied"
Hob 26a_12 Lied for Soprano and Fortepiano "Die zu späte Ankunft der Mutter"
   Andrea Folan / Tom Beghin


Hob 28_10 Opera La Fedelta Premiata
   Chamber Orchestra of Lausanne / Dorati  Valentini / Landy / von Stade / Titus / Cotrubas


Symphony Hob 62 in D major used another of those overtures in D (Hob 1a:7) for part of its first movement, the same ones the Hob 53 used. Those were some busy little movements! Otherwise it is pretty straightforward late'70's Haydn. The Allegretto second movement uses a nice Venetian sounding barcarolle theme, without ever really putting a melody on top of the accompaniment. I like the Hogwood recording, which is good, since PI recordings of this work are thin on the ground.    Hob 74 in Eb doesn't reuse any other music, it is an original composition for the orchestra. It seems that he has two simultaneous streams of music going here; maybe the chronologists were confused by the fact that there appears to be a phase of reusing theater music (numbered in the Hob 60's), and then there is a phase of pure symphonic writing (numbered in the Hob 70's). But as near as I can see by following them this way, they weren't consecutive, they were concurrent. In any case, we went with the Goodman recording of this work, a nice rousing one it is, too.

A replacement aria, but not for his little lady this time, instead for the part of Lumaca (Baritone) in La scuola de'gelosi (The School for Jealousy) by Salieri. I like this recording by Huss and Co. with Iván Paley's very nice baritone voice.

And now one of my favorite little groupings, the first set of 12 German Lieder with Klavier. Of the 2 sets (the second completed in 1784), this is the one with the better level of poetry. It is said that Haydn didn't really care about the quality of the poetry, he could make a silk purse out of it anyway. Not sure I agree with that, but in any case, there are quite delightful and fit very nicely into a program consisting in a couple of keyboard sonatas perhaps, and maybe a trio to round it out. This recording by Tom Beghin and Andrea Folan strikes just the right tone, it has a lovely mellow sound that is totally appropriate to the music. Another nice disk, by Anne Cambier and Jan Vermeulen only has 3 of this set, #'s 3, 8 & 11 along with 17 & 21 from the 2nd set. And of course, there is always Elly Ameling & Jorg Demus, a can't-fail combination.

Will there be an opera? Why yes, certainly!  La Fedelta Premiata (Faithfulness Rewarded) was composed in 1780, and premiered in February, 1781 at the grand reopening of the new opera house. It is a dramma giocoso in 3 acts on a libretto by the Neapolitan master Lorenzi. This one uses the "annual sacrifice of a virgin couple to the gods" plot line. The wide ranging action and story lines really allow Haydn to hit on a lot of musical devices, which he does very aptly. This one was fun to listen to even when I had no idea what was going on. Now I have the libretto, it should actually make sense besides!  Here again, we have Dorati & Co. doing a bang-up job. In addition, I have a box on Arabesque featuring the Padova (Padua?) Chamber Orchestra / David Golub. I haven't even had time to rip it yet, but if you are familiar with it, let us have some feedback.



OK, that's it for 1780. Some very nice stuff here. We seem to be progressing, and in the very near horizon are some revisitations to genres that we haven't seen in a long time.

Please feel free to comment, ask questions, provide answers etc.

[Bogey]

These two landed under the tree thanks to Linda:

 

Will give them a listen in the car today as we travel down to my folks.