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Haydn: Die Schöpfung (The Creation)

 

Composer: Joseph Haydn

Conductor: John Eliot Gardiner

Performers:

·        Sylvia McNair

·        Donna Brown

·        Michael Schade

·        Gerald Finley

·        Rodney Gilfry

·        Monteverdi Choir

·        English Baroque Soloists

Released: February 11, 1997

Number of Discs: 2

Label: Archiv Produktion

ASIN: B0000057FS

 

Tracks: Click to hear a sample  

1. The Creation: Part One - The First Day: The Representation Of Chaos

2. The Creation: Part One - The First Day: 'Im Anfange schuf Gott Himmel und Erde' - 'Und der Geist Gottes schwebte auf der Flache der Wasser'

3. The Creation: Part One - The First Day: 'Nun schwanden vor dem heiligen Strahle' - 'Verzweiflung, Wut und Schrecken'

4. The Creation: Part One - The Second Day: 'Und Gott machte das Firmament'

5. The Creation: Part One - The Second Day: 'Mit Staunen sieht das Wunderwerk' - 'Und laut ertont aus ihren Kehlen'

6. The Creation: Part One - The Third Day: 'Und Gott sprach: Es sammle sich das Wasser'            

7. The Creation: Part One - The Third Day: 'Rollend in schaumenden Wellen'  

8. The Creation: Part One - The Third Day: 'Und Gott sprach: Es bringe die Erde Gras hervor'

9. The Creation: Part One - The Third Day: 'Nun beut die Flur das frische Grun'  

10. The Creation: Part One - The Third Day: 'Und die himmlischen Heerscharen verkundigten'       

11. The Creation: Part One - The Third Day: 'Stimmt an die Saiten'

12. The Creation: Part One - The Fourth Day: 'Und Gott sprach: Es sei'n Lichter an der Feste des Himmels'                        

13. The Creation: Part One - The Fourth Day: 'In vollem Glanze steiget jetzt'   

14. The Creation: Part One - The Fourth Day: 'Die Himmel erzahlen die Ehre Gottes' - 'Dem kommenden Tage sagt es der Tag'

15. The Creation: Part One - The Fifth Day: 'Und Gott sprach: Es bringe das Wasser in der Fulle hervor'              

16. The Creation: Part Two - The Fifth Day: 'Auf starkem Fittiche schwinget sich der Adler stolz'  

17. The Creation: Part Two - The Fifth Day: 'Und Gott schuf grosse Walfische'

18. The Creation: Part Two - The Fifth Day: 'Und die Engel ruhrten ihr' unsterblichen Harfen'                       

19. The Creation: Part Two - The Fifth Day: 'In holder Anmut stehn' - 'Der Herr ist gross in seiner Macht'  

 

 

 

Disc: 2

1. The Creation: Part One - The Fifth Day: 'Und Gott sprach: Es bringe die Erde hervor lebende Geschopfe'                        

2. The Creation: Part One - The Fifth Day: 'Gleich offnet sich der Erde Schoss'

3. The Creation: Part One - The Fifth Day: 'Nun scheint in vollem Glanze der Himmel'  

4. The Creation: Part One - The Fifth Day: 'Und Gott schuf den Menschen'                  

5. The Creation: Part One - The Fifth Day: 'Mit Wurd' und Hoheit angetan'      

6. The Creation: Part One - The Fifth Day: 'Und Gott sah jedes Ding'               

7. The Creation: Part One - The Fifth Day: 'Vollendet ist das grosse Werk' - 'Zu dir, o Herr, blickt alles auf'

8. The Creation: Part Three - The Fifth Day: 'Aus Rosenwolken bricht'  

9. The Creation: Part Three - The Fifth Day: 'Von deiner Gut' oh Herr und Gott' - 'Gsegnet sei des Herren Macht'

10. The Creation: Part Three - The Fifth Day: 'Nun ist die erste Pflicht erfullt'

11. The Creation: Part Three - The Fifth Day: 'Holde Gattin, dir zur Seite'

12. The Creation: Part Three - The Fifth Day: 'O glucklich Paar, und glucklich immerfort'                  

13. The Creation: Part Three - The Fifth Day: 'Singt dem Herren, alle Stimmen'         

 

 

 

What the critics say

BBC Radio 3 “Building a Library”

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/cdreview/buildingalibrary/bal9798.doc

One of the nine 1997 Discs of the Year as nominated by “Record Review” listeners

Graham Lock, BBC Music Magazine

Performance: Five stars *****
Sound: Five stars *****

It was while in London in the 1790s that Haydn, inspired by hearing several Handel oratorios, decided to attempt a similar work. When he returned to Vienna in 1795 he took with him a libretto, supposedly written for Handel, and this provided the basis for The Creation. First performed publicly in March 1799, the work quickly became a sensational hit throughout Europe. If Handel did reject the libretto, it was perhaps because it departed from the human conflicts and emotional extremes that fired his greatest music. The Creation is a hundred-minute paean to God and Nature, its text expressing little besides awe, wonder and praise. Haydn’s genius is evident in his ability to animate the subject in such colourful, dramatic music. He cleverly shuffles his chorus and soloists, mixes Handelian grandeur with pastoral enchantment and employs a brilliant array of illustrative effects, from humorous depictions of the lion’s roar and tiger’s leap, to lovely evocations of sunrise, and the opening ‘Representation of Chaos’. This John Eliot Gardiner recording uses the German libretto and period instruments. It is beautifully sung, exquisitely played, superbly paced and vividly detailed, and the moments of hushed reverence are as transfixing as the majestic choral climaxes. An enthralling performance.