Sturm und Drang

Joseph Haydn is one of the most underrated composers of our time, and also one of the favorite composers of the Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century. An innovator, a visionary and a musical genius like few you see in this world. Unfortunately for Haydn, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart surfaced a generation later, and constant comparisons have been inevitable ever since.

However,...watch and listen to Haydn on his own merits, and you will really find out what his impressive oeuvre (104 symphonies!) can still bring us. Musical and emotional highlights follow one another in rapid succession. Depth and nimbleness blend seamlessly.

This concert is part of a new carte blanche, where we play what we want, with symphonies 26, 44 and 49: Lamentatione, Trauer and Passione, respectively. All in minor. But don't be fooled by the epithets or the idea of minor. There is a rare energy in these pieces that will be phenomenal under the direction of concertmaster Alexander Janiczek.