Haydn: The Seasons
Finnish premiere on period instruments
Haydn
Elsa Benoit, soprano
Werner Güra, tenor
Manuel Walser, bass
Zürcher Sing-Akademie
Finnish Baroque Orchestra
Florian Helgath, conductor
PROGRAMME (in Finnish and Swedish)
1st violin: Irma Niskanen (cm), Anni Elonen, Leena Ihamuotila, Kaisa Ruotsalainen, Viola Räisänen
2nd violin: Minna Kangas (prin.), Tiina Aho-Erola, Irina Kim, Hanna Pesonen
Viola: Tuula Riisalo (prin.), Marianne Hautakangas, Laura Kajander, Markus Sarantola
Cello: Jussi Seppänen (prin.), Tatu Ahola, Louna Hosia
Double bass: Petri Ainali (prin.), Lassi Kari
Fortepiano: Anna-Maaria Oramo
Flute: Pauliina Fred, Ilkka Eronen
Oboe: Pedro Castro, Piia Maunula
Clarinet: Lorenzo Coppola, Asko Heiskanen
Bassoon: Jaakko Luoma, Lisa Goldberg
Contrabassoon: Trond Olaf Larsen
Trumpet: Inka Pärssinen, Atsuko Sakuragi
Natural horn: Tommi Viertonen, Miska Miettunen
Trombone: Esa Fagerholm, Martti Vesola, Sakari Mäkimattila
Percussion: Tuija-Maija Nurminen
cm = concertmaster
prin. = principal
The Finnish Baroque Orchestra's Top European Choirs Series continues with the Zürcher Sing-Akademie’s visit! The concert features Joseph Haydn’s colourful oratorio The Seasons (1801). The choir was founded in 2011 and has collaborated with specialists in early music such as René Jacobs and Sir Roger Norrington. The artistic director of the Zürcher Sing-Akademie is Florian Helgath. Among the soloists, soprano Elsa Benoit and bass Manuel Walser are rapidly rising stars who are already well known in Central Europe. The French singer Benoit is now visiting Finland for the first time. Werner Güra is already a legendary tenor. The performance will also be heard in Bern and Zurich.
The Seasons followed Haydn’s popular oratorio The Creation (1798). Instead of Biblical tone painting and philosophical study, it contains imaginative descriptions of the annual cycle, with wine flowing in the pastoral scenes.
The librettist was once again Gottfried van Swieten. He was a patron of music, diplomat and imperial librarian, as well as the leader of Gesellschaft der Associierten, which arranged large-scale concerts. Haydn’s own career had taken a turn, leading him to work as the court conductor at Esterházy mainly in the summer. He was able to travel and to compose for the lively musical scene in Vienna.
Van Swieten’s libretto, based on the Scotsman James Thomson’s popular pastoral poem, did not inspire Haydn very much. Despite this, the result is a musical tour de force, in which warm Singspiel choirs, delightful arias and fugues of the high oratorio style meet. Grasshoppers, frogs, the divine sunrise and the freezing winter all get their poignant musical descriptions.
In FiBO’s “Top European Choirs” series, the orchestra collaborates with world-renowned international choirs from 2022 to 2025. The Jane and Aatos Erkko Foundation support the series from 2023 to 2025. The first concert in this series took place in February 2022 with Det Norske Solistkor, the second one in February 2023 with Arcangelo, the third one in October 2023 with RIAS Chamber Choir and the fourth one in February 2024 Vox Luminis.
Duration: 2 h 45 min (incl. intermission)
The pre-event will take place from 3 to 3.30 pm in the main foyer of the Musiikkitalo, at the café end.
HELSINKI
Tickets 36/42/48/57 € (normal ticket), 32/38/44/52 € (retirees), 24/31/40/48 € (other discount groups): musiikkitalo.fi
Youth tickets (ages 15–25) during concert week: 5 € in selected seating sections
Group tickets (free ticket for the group leader): Musiikkitalo's group booking form, ryhmat@musiikkitalo.fi, p. 0600 411 101
Ticket inquiries: lippu@fibo.fi
BERN
Tickets 20–90 CHF (normal ticket), 10–70 CHF (discount groups): 442hz.com
ZÜRICH
Tickets 20–85 CHF (normal ticket), 10–65 CHF (discount groups): 442.hz.com