Word: haydn
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...Haydn's younger contemporary Mozart who determined the character of modern opera, and in so doing rendered the works of Haydn and most other 18th century composers out of date. Mozart's ability to portray real emotions on the stage instead of stylized attitudes, and his inventive use of the orchestra as an active participant instead of merely an accompanist, powerfully influenced later generations of composers. In the works he created with Librettist Lorenzo da Ponte-The Marriage of Figaro, Don Giovanni and Così Fan Tutte-Mozart's genius transcended the conventional boundaries of master-servant...
...Haydn himself acknowledged that "scarcely any man can brook comparison with the great Mozart." And although he esteemed his own operas highly, he feared they might not travel well. Asked in 1787 for permission to produce one of them in Prague, Haydn replied: "I cannot comply with your wish, because all my operas are far too closely connected with our personal circle, and moreover they would not produce the proper effect, which I calculated in accordance with the locality...
During the nearly 30 years that he spent in the service of the Esterházys, Haydn gained vast experience in conducting and producing operas-his own and those of other composers. In the single year of 1786, he led a total of 125 performances. But he was never a man of the commercial theater as Mozart was. His operas, mostly light in character, did not have to please any taste but the Esterházys'. And rather than working closely with a librettist to create something new-as Mozart did with Da Ponte-Haydn was largely content...
Still, as Musicologist Barry Brook of the City University of New York points out, "No one has to compare Haydn with Mozart. He is not Mozart. But compared with those of the other composers of the 18th century, his operas are superb musically and deserve a far better fate than they've received...
...recent Pennsylvania Opera Theater production of Orlando Paladino, a work that alternates buffa elements with more serious moments, showed the best reason for giving Haydn's operas a hearing: their scores. To the lovesick knight Orlando (Tenor John Gilmore), crazed by a passion for Angelica, the Queen of Cathay, Haydn gave a stirring entrance that suggests the depths of the mad paladin's emotion. On Angelica (Soprano Randi Marrazzo), he lavished arias in each act that shimmer with dazzling coloratura and touching pathos. And for the finale, he composed a high-spirited, catchy septet that reconciles the conflicting...