HAYDN: Opera at Eszterháza: Arias – La Circe – Haydn Sinfonietta Wien (Hybrid SACD) BIS

Performers:

Kirstin Chávez
Christoph Genz
Manfred Hemm
Iván Paley
Miah Persson
Bernard Richter
Haydn Sinfonietta Wien
Manfred Huss, conductor

Music Web International: Recording of the Month.

Haydn composed more than twenty operas, mainly for the sumptuous theatre at Eszterháza, the palace of his long-time employers, the princes of Esterházy. Even so, his work in the operatic field remains largely neglected. This disc focuses on an even more closely guarded secret: the so-called ‘insertion arias’ that Haydn wrote for inclusion in operas by other composers. The rarely, if at all, recorded music includes Haydn’s three contributions to La Circe, an opera pasticcio which combined music by several composers, and six of the surviving insertion arias. Among these is Infelice sventurata, written for an opera by Cimarosa, and one of Haydn’s finest arias, here movingly performed by Miah Persson. The Swedish soprano shares the greater part of the programme with the Swiss tenor Bernard Richter. The latter in Ah, tu non senti, amico takes on what, according to the initiated liner notes of conductor and Haydn specialist Manfred Huss, ‘may be the highest drama in eighteenth-century music – ghostly and spine-chilling in a Hitchcockian manner.’ In contrast, Huss describes the concluding tercet from La Circe as ‘a tremendously witty and energetic and also dramatic scene that sounds like Mozart – or perhaps even like Rossini’. This varied programme thus becomes an illustration of Mozart’s verdict on Haydn as an opera composer: ‘Nobody can do all of this – flirt and unsettle, provoke laughter and deep emotions – as well as Haydn!’ It is presented by Manfred Huss and his period band Haydn Sinfonietta Wien as part of a Haydn bicentenary celebration, which includes four previous, highly acclaimed releases. The opera fragment Acide (BIS-SACD-1812) was called ‘a wonderful tribute to Joseph Haydn’ by the reviewer of MusicWeb International, who also found Bernard Richter ‘outstanding’ in the title role. The review of the marionette opera Philemon und Baucis (BIS-SACD-1813) on ClassicsToday described the work as ‘exceptionally moving stuff, full of Sturm und Drang, with . music of substantial humanity and warmth.’ And the playing of Haydn Sinfonietta Wien on the two collections of overtures (BIS-CD-1818) and chamber works (BIS-CD-1796/98) has been unanimously praised: ‘the ideal interpreters for these works’ (Pizzicato) and ‘sensational… lively tempos, gutsy brass and timpani, perky winds, and stunning music’ (ClassicsToday).

Joseph Haydn
01 Infelice sventurata (Aria di Beatrice, Hob.XXIVb:15) 4’59

02 Costretta a piangere (Aria di Dorina, Hob.XXIVb:1) 5’37

03 Signor, voi sapete (Aria di Rosina, Hob.XXIVb:7) 3’14

04 Solo e pensoso (Aria da Il canzoniere di Francesco Petrarca, Hob.XXIVb:20) 5’50

05 Dice benissimo (Aria di Lumaca, Hob.XXIVb:5) 1’59

06 Da che penso a maritarmi (Aria di Titta, Hob.XXIVb:16) 3’43

07 Se tu mi sprezzi, ingrata (Aria del Cavaliere, Hob.XXIVb:14) 5’35

08 Tornate pur mia bella (Aria, Hob.XXIVb:22) 6’31

09 Begli occhi vezzosi (Aria di Ernesto, Hob.XXVIII:7) 4’51

10 Ah, tu non senti – Qual destra omicida (Recitativo ed Aria di Oreste, Hob.XXIVb:10) 5’44

La Circe – the three numbers from the opera pasticcio 21’15
11 Son pietosa, son bonina (Aria di Lindora, Hob.XXXII:1b) 4’04
12 Son due ore che giro (Scena di Pedrillo, Hob.XXXII:1a) 7’35
13 Lavatevi presto (Terzetto, Hob.XXXII:1c) 9’36

Album total 71’31