LF 26: Concerto Copenhagen Haydn Project I
St Mary's Church Haddington
Concerto Copenhagen, Lars Ulrik Mortensen (director)
The night of 16th September brought period instrument Baroque chamber orchestra Concerto Copenhagen to St Mary’s Church in Haddington, as part of their Haydn Project and the Lammermuir Festival, to perform an all-Haydn programme of three famous early symphonies, directed from the harpsichord by Lars Ulrik Mortensen. The symphonies nos.6, 7 and 8, dubbed ‘Morning’, ‘Noon’ and ‘Night’, were the first Haydn composed after arriving at the Palace of Esterházy in 1761 to take up the post of deputy Kapellmeister, keen to impress his new employer, Prince Paul Anton, as well as to establish a good collegiate working relationship with the court musicians, reputed at the time to be some of the finest in Europe. The three symphonies appear to have done the trick. Strategically-placed solos for not only the usual instruments, but also the less frequently featured like viola, bassoon and double bass, prompted gifts to the players from the Prince. So with music evocative of the times of one day, Haydn became “flavour of the month”. Nice work if you can get it. BBC Radio 3 microphones were there to record the concert.
The (fully period) instrumentation for Symphony No 6 in D major ‘Le Matin’ comprised 3 each of first and second violins, 2 each of violas and cellos, 1 double bass, 1 flute, 2 oboes, 1 bassoon and 2 valveless horns. Because of its being regularly played on Radio 3 Breakfast in recent years, I found it very familiar. An Adagio depiction of dawn gives way to a buoyant 3/4 D-major Allegro with some nice solos from flute (Katy Bircher) and oboe (Antoine Torunczyk). The intro to the Andante slow movement, said to parody a music lesson, starts with the leader (Fredrik From) emphatically playing a model G-major scale Adagio, copied erratically by the ’pupils’: Haydn already displaying his endearing waggishness, but also with a nod to Corelli. The third movement, minuet and trio form already locked and loaded, features more solos, in particular in the charming D-minor trio, where bassoon (Kamila Marcinkowska-Prasad), double bass (Megan Adie) and viola (Judith-Maria Blomsterberg) were agile and expressive over (and under) a pizzicato accompaniment. The finale, a scurrying concertante Allegro, featured great virtuoso playing from principal flute and leader again, and a super sound from those horns. A delightful piece of early Haydn and a great concert-opener.
The 7th Symphony in C major ‘Le Midi’ is scored similarly to No. 6, but with an additional flute. The slow march-like introduction has a very full sound with those lovely horns prominent; the scurrying Allegro starts more quietly. The dramatic slow movement opens with an operatic recitative on solo violin, giving way to a sweet solo violin ariosa melody, with the two flutes in ornate harmony obbligato (Haydn evidently exploring what can be achieved with a pair of flutes). A violin and cello duet cadenza concludes the movement. The other winds are back in for the minuet, while another spectacular double bass solo features in its slower trio. The Allegro finale is another joyful scurrying Haydn dash.
For the 8th Symphony in G major ‘Le Soir’ after the interval, we lost the second flute again. The sonata-form Allegro molto is a brisk and witty 3/8 jig, with a general pause before the coda. In the Andante, Haydn reverts to concerto grosso format with two solo violins and cello acting as soli. Yet another virtuoso double bass solo graces the trio of the minuet. The finale, ‘La tempesta’, is indeed stormy, yet festive, and concludes in typically Haydnesque high spirits with joyous whoops from the horns.
Top-drawer Haydn goodies from top-flight players. What’s not to like? Excellent.
Weblink: https://www.lammermuirfestival.co.uk/event/concerto-copenhagen-haydn-project-morning-noon-and-night/