Haydn’s »The Seasons« is rich in vivid observations of nature, which »this musical Prometheus, full of life and feeling«, as one review of the premiere put it, translated into music: now tender (»Come, gentle Spring«), now violent (»Ah, the tempest is approaching …«), now robustly folksy (»Huzzah, the wine is here!«) and now full of pathos (»Then the great morning shall dawn«).
Such observations of nature have also inspired poets time and again to create deeply moving works of art. Actress Eva Mattes complements the evening’s musical performance with readings of poignant, illuminating and entertaining texts by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Mascha Kaléko, Joachim Ringelnatz and others, as well as by Haydn’s contemporaries and Haydn himself.
The musicians of the Symphonischer Chor Hamburg, Flensburger Bach-Chor and Danish Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Prof. Matthias Janz, are joined on this occasion by Matthias Stier (tenor), Matthias Winckhler (bass) and the wonderful Latvian soprano Annija Adamsone, who last thrilled audiences at the Elbphilharmonie in 2024 in Carl Orff’s »Carmina Burana«, alongside the choir.
PERFORMERS
Symphonischer Chor Hamburg choir
Flensburger Bach-Chor choir
Danish Philharmonic Orchestra orchestra
Annija Adamsone soprano
Matthias Stier tenor
Matthias Winckhler bass
Eva Mattes narrator
Matthias Janz conductor
PROGRAM
Joseph Haydn
Die Jahreszeiten
The concert takes place with an interval.
