Let there be light!
Live at the Barbican Hall, Jonathan Cohen directs Arcangelo in Haydn's life-affirming oratorio The Creation, beginning in chaos and ending in the Garden of Eden.
Jonathan Cohen directs his award-winning period instrument ensemble and choir Arcangelo in Haydn's life-affirming The Creation, live at the Barbican Hall.
Haydn's experience of a Westminster Abbey Handel festival during his first trip to London was the spur for him to write an oratorio he hoped would be worthy of Handel and he chose to set a text telling the Old Testament story of creation. Although Haydn threw his all into the project, even he could not have predicted the sensational success of its first public performance in 1799 Vienna.
The Creation's succession of wonderful orchestral effects, vocal solos and thrilling choruses, beginning in murky chaos and ending with Adam and Eve in their innocence in the Garden of Eden, takes in along the way an unforgettable first sunrise and engagingly vivid sound pictures of the natural world, from whales to worms. A staple of choral societies for over two centuries The Creation is indeed on a par with Handel's great oratorios.
Presented by Martin Handley.
Haydn: The Creation (sung in German)
Anna Lucia Richter (soprano)
Toby Spence (tenor)
Thomas Bauer (baritone)
Arcangelo
Jonathan Cohen (director)
