Hungary Haydn: Nikola Hillebrand (soprano), Mauro Peter (tenor), Andreas Bauer Kanabas (bass), Arnold Schoenberg Choir (refrain grasp: Erwin Ortner), Danish Chamber Orchestra / Ádám Fischer (conductor). Müpa Budapest, 1.1.2026. (LJ)
Haydn – Die Schöpfung (1798)
Haydn’s grand oratorio, Die Schöpfung (The Creation), was impressed by Handel’s Messiah and Israel in Egypt, which he heard carried out in 1791 at Westminster Abbey when he was fifty-nine years outdated. It took some time, nonetheless, for Haydn to develop a bit corresponding to Handel’s much-loved works. Shortly earlier than Haydn left England in the summertime of 1795, violinist Johann Peter Salomon handed him an English libretto with regards to the Creation. This was the very libretto that Handel had beforehand turned down. Against this, Haydn noticed potential on this textual content which derived inspiration from the Guide of Genesis, John Milton’s epic poem Paradise Misplaced (particularly the animal descriptions in what grew to become Half Two of the oratorio, and the hymn and love duet in Half Three), in addition to Psalms 19 and 104 for the choruses of reward.
When Haydn returned to Vienna, due to this fact, he requested Baron Gottfried van Swieten, the Imperial Court docket Librarian, for his enter on the libretto. While Swieten could have had extra confidence than means regarding his English-German translation abilities, he made one impactful suggestion that the phrase ‘mild’ ought to solely seem at one second of the piece. Throughout the efficiency of this work for Budapest’s New Yr’s Live performance at Müpa, the strains ‘Let there be Mild / And there was Mild’ (sung in German) radiated. The Danish Chamber Orchestra achieved a second of sheer readability by way of Haydn’s spellbinding pause after the primary point out of ‘mild’, adopted by a colossal C main chord. The Arnold Schoenberg Choir sang very nicely, acquiring an excellent stability between the orchestra and soloists. And, because the piece progressed, they solid better unity with the opposite musicians, really embodying their position because the ‘angelic host’.
With the libretto completed by the top of 1796, Haydn might set to work on the composition. He structured it in three components for sopranos, tenor, and bass soloists, refrain, and orchestra. In Components One and Two, the archangels Raphael (bass), Uriel (tenor), and Gabriel (soprano) had been carried out by Andreas Bauer Kanabas, Mauro Peter, and Nikola Hillebrand respectively. In Half Three, Bauer Kanabas and Hillebrand represented Adam and Eve.
Half One opens with the so-called ‘Illustration of Chaos’, Haydn’s interpretation of what Milton known as ‘The Huge Immeasurable Abyss’ (Paradise Misplaced, VII: 211), and what’s referred to within the Bible as ‘The Earth with out Kind, and Void’ (Genesis, 1:2). It’s a motion that persistently resists completion, conveying a way of one thing indefinite and incomplete. That is, in spite of everything, solely the primary day of the Creation: there may be nonetheless work to be achieved. Haydn, after taking part in this motion on the piano for the Swedish Chargé-d’Affaires, defined this compositional choice as follows: ‘you could have definitely observed how I averted the resolutions that you’d most readily anticipate. The reason being, that there isn’t a type in something within the universe but.’ All through Half One, the Danish Chamber Orchestra performed excellently, evoking the strain Haydn alluded to when he talked about ‘avoiding resolutions’, however not sounding heavy-handed or melodramatic. Certainly, their timing was exact, and Ádám Fischer’s infectious power was particularly palpable amongst the woodwind part which has a major position on this piece.
Half Two is a pastoral invocation of the animal kingdom evoked by way of onomatopoeic gestures that audiences now discover charming however had been as soon as deemed too naïve. Throughout the Romantic period, Die Schöpfung was derided for this descriptive tone-painting. The French Romantic composer, Hector Berlioz, by no means one to place issues frivolously in phrases nor in music, describes his ‘profound antipathy for this work’ as stemming from ‘its lowing oxen, its buzzing bugs, its mild in C, which dazzles like a Carcel lamp; after which its Adam, Uriel, Gabriel, and the flute solos and all of the amiabilities actually shrivel me up – they make me wish to homicide somebody.’ In the identical letter from 8 February 1859, he continues: ‘the English love a pudding surrounded with a layer of suet; I detest it. Suet is strictly what surrounds the musical pudding of Papa Haydn. Naïveté is all very nice, however an excessive amount of of it we don’t want!’
While humorous, many contemporaries of Berlioz shared his emotions of distaste for this piece. However they had been lacking the very level. For Haydn, the Creation is exactly ‘mild in C’. This non secular positivity that radiated inside Enlightenment pondering will need to have been arduous to swallow for somebody like Berlioz who inhabited an altogether heavier, minor-key, Romantic world. If appreciated and carried out by itself phrases, Die Schöpfung can supply audiences a novel alternative to have interaction within the beliefs that encompassed Enlightenment society. Right here, the revelations of science complemented the prophecies of faith. As such, new types of creativity had been facilitated by scientific developments however conceptualised as a type of devotion. With the correct course, an brisk orchestra, and shiny voices, Die Schöpfung can depart audiences overtly committing to values of fact, nature, and purpose that see progress in science and morality as optimistic bastions of a brand new and enlightened worldview.
On this efficiency, the ebullience of Haydn’s tackle the Enlightenment spirit was delivered fantastically by Fischer who definitely nullified any potential Berlioz-like sentiments amongst the viewers. Fischer carried out your entire piece from reminiscence, mouthing practically the entire phrases as he did so. From my vantage level, which was to the facet of the orchestra, I might see this intimate information of the rating and his enthusiasm for the piece. His intention was clear: to convey out the non secular levity that runs by way of the center of the rating. Certainly, this labored significantly nicely with flutes and timpani. The offstage flute solo throughout Half Two, which depicts a nightingale in duet with Gabriel, was a very pleasurable second for the viewers as each performers had been lyrical and lightweight. The bassoons as cooing doves additionally raised a smile.
Half Three of Haydn’s oratorio depicts the primary morning in Eden, with Adam and Eve’s reward of all creation and their love. The 2 climactic choruses on this part are examples of the elegant in music, the place Haydn’s symphonic and contrapuntal abilities recall these of Handel. Greater than this, Haydn’s elegant entails a way of nature as untamed and galvanizing philosophical transcendence. The orchestra took their finger off the heart beat ever so barely throughout this part, dropping their grasp of the viewers and due to this fact not totally translating the extra philosophical qualities of this part. However this remark mustn’t detract totally from their in any other case wonderful efficiency, particularly throughout Components One and Two once they introduced renewed power to the piece by way of Fischer’s attribute surprises with dynamics and tempo.
Tenor Mauro Peter was contemporary and filled with character. His voice has a youthfulness and barely earthy timbre that suited the half and counterbalanced the fuller, extra rounded voices of each soprano and bass. Nikola Hillebrand’s voice was replete with color and dexterity, making her an outstanding match for Haydn. She sang with readability and charming (however not extreme) coloratura. Hillebrand’s voice was pretty nicely managed within the decrease notes however took full impact within the greater notes which appeared easy – a high quality that Haydn appeared to attempt for throughout the music itself. Andreas Bauer Kanabas’s voice had wealthy, robust, and silky qualities. His diction was clearer than that of his fellow soloists (all of whom are fluent in German), however one couldn’t assist pondering that he’s extra suited to the weightier and lyrically grounded components of Wagner’s operas. Certainly, Bauer Kanabas is significantly better identified for his roles as King Marke, King Heinrich, Landgraf Hermann, Veit Pogner, and Daland from throughout Wagner’s oeuvre. This mentioned, his expressivity and readability made him an excellent Raphael and Adam, if not totally suited to singing Haydn’s wittier repertoire.
As for the Fall, that is referred to solely briefly earlier than the ultimate refrain. Die Schöpfung is optimistic; it’s not sanctimonious or moralistic. Somewhat, that is music to take pleasure in with its resounding Alleluias. It’s designed to boost a smile and encourage good feeling, and that is what the Danish Chamber Orchestra, Arnold Schoenberg Choir, and soloists achieved to a excessive diploma. On the primary day of 2026, Haydn’s music felt as contemporary and energising as I think about he supposed it at all times to be.
Lucy Jeffery
