Abstract
In the 1790s Joseph Haydn travelled repeatedly to London, where he could hear the oratorios of Georg Friedrich Händel and was encouraged to study this genre himself: in 1798 Die Schöpfung finally premiered with great success in Vienna. Based on the stories of Genesis and John Milton's Paradise Lost, this musical story of Haydn's creation is one of the masterpieces of Viennese classical music. The large-scale composition for vocal soloists, choir and orchestra is divided into three parts: The chaos of the original beginning, which Haydn describes in an orchestral introduction, is followed in the first part by the creation of light, earth, sky and water. With wit and great effect Haydn describes in the second part the creation of creatures, from worms and insects to the great whales and the roaring lion. The third part deals with the lives of the first humans Adam and Eve and culminates in two concluding choirs of praise and thanks.
On the fourth Sunday of Advent, Haydn's Creation will be performed under the direction of Riccardo Minasi. Rebecca Bottone (soprano), Mauro Peter (tenor) and Morgan Pearse (baritone) as well as the La Cetra vocal ensemble and the Orchestra La Scintilla can be heard.