Franz Joseph Haydn
The Creation
Die Schöpfung
Oratorio for soloists, choir, and orchestra Hob:XXI:2
conductor Ottavio Dantone
Charlotte Bowden soprano
Martin Vanberg tenor
Andre Morsch bass
Accademia Bizantina
Philharmonia Chor Wien
choirmaster Walter Zeh
When Haydn, no longer a young man and freed from his obligations to the Esterházy family, accepted an invitation from the impresario Salomon to go to London, he ‘discovered’ the success that Handel’s oratorios enjoyed there. On his return to Vienna, he brought with him a libretto based on Genesis and Milton’s Paradise Lost: translated into German by Gottfried van Swieten, this became the starting point for his most famous oratorio. The idea of the world’s creation is presented through a formal elaboration process, beginning with the well-known overture, ‘The Representation of Chaos’. But when the archangel Raphael begins to narrate the story of Genesis, the chorus announces the light, and a sudden C major chord initiates the creative process, ushering in life. The Accademia Bizantina and the Vienna Philharmonic Choir make an excellent partnership to restore the refined richness of this piece.
