Concert: Haydn, Dvořák, Richard Strauss
Saturday 5th November 2011, 7.30pm
St Andrew's Hall
HAYDN Harmoniemesse
DVOŘÁK The Noonday Witch
R STRAUSS Suite from Der Rosenkavalier
Cecilia Osmond (soprano), Clare McCaldin (mezzo), Simon Wall (tenor), Brian Bannatyne-Scott (bass),
Norwich Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus
conducted by David Dunnett and Matthew Andrews
Written in 1802, Haydn's Harmoniemesse translates as "Wind-Band Mass", so-called because of the prominence of wind instruments in the orchestration. But, the orchestra doesn't get everything its own way. The choir and soloists also have big parts to play in this piece. Drawing inspiration from The Creation and The Seasons for its virtuoso solo writing and fabulous choral flourishes, the Harmoniemesse is the last large-scale work that Haydn produced, and is a magnificent demonstration of his mastery of classical musical drama and form.
The orchestral half of the programme begins with Dvořák's Noonday Witch, based on a rather gruesome Czech fairy tale. A child is being naughty, and, worried that she might not be able to prepare lunch in time for her husband, the child's mother calls the Noonday Witch to frighten her son. When the witch does arrive to kidnap the child, the mother holds the child so tightly in fear, that she suffocates him, and the father arrives to see his wife, with the dead body of their little son in her arms. Dvořák's symphonic poem reflects the grisly tale with imaginative twists and turns.
Richard Strass' opera Der Rosenkavalier, was an instant success in 1911, and as a result the composer made several concert numbers from the work before completing the Suite to be performed by the orchestra as their second piece. The opera is a sunny, lightly poignant romantic comedy about the lovely Marschallin von Werdenberg, a beauty in the court of Maria Theresa who is facing the onset of middle age. A young man named Octavian falls deeply in love with her and the Marschallin temperately returns his affections.
The Suite brings together some of the most magical musical moments from the opera. It starts with the opera's orchestral prelude, depicting the night of passion (vividly portrayed by whooping horns) between the Marschallin and Octavian. This is followed by the Marschallin, swooning over her young lover Octavian, and then Octavian falling for Sophie, in the rapturous Presentation of the Rose scene. We have Baron Ochs, promising a chambermaid, against all evidence, that "with me no night is too long", with the most famous of the opera's waltzes, and then its most celebrated trio reflecting on three very different views of love, before the final duet of Octavian and Sophie as they go off together. Strauss' music is deliciously rich and decadent throughout. This is a treat not to be missed.