Thanks to Amazing Haydn, Joseph Haydn also receives in Flanders the tribute that he, as a brilliant composer, deserves. Working for almost his entire life in the service of the glorious noble family Esterházy, he wrote splendid and mostly cheerful and sunny music. He rose from impoverished street musician to the most famous and popular composer in the world, but for a long time was perhaps also the most forgotten and neglected among the great masters.
With internationally renowned chamber music ensembles, orchestras and soloists from Austria, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Flanders and a varied and high-quality programme, you are in good company for an unforgettable evening out. At this distinctly "Wiener Klassik festival", in his honour, Haydn not only has his best friend Mozart, but also Beethoven, Schubert, his younger brother Michael and many good friends and contemporaries –often popular and successful in their time, alas mostly forgotten composers now- on "visit".
An orchestra in a nutshell
Suppose: the Internet, i-phone or Podcast doesn't exist yet; there are no CDs, LPs, DVDs, videos; not even a radio or television... But Haydn, Beethoven weren't waiting for that. They wrote Symphony after Symphony. How to hear them?
This question also occupied violist Wolfram Lehnert.
Princes who had their own orchestra in service were not numerous. Large concerts were extremely expensive. The only solution was a reduced score for piano four-hands or for small ensembles, a need that composers sometimes responded to themselves.
And it was such a mixed ensemble of a few strings and winds that Lehnert assembled thirty years ago with colleagues from the renowned Beethoven Orchester Bonn and with which he shaped the first Amazing Haydn concert.
The location was a wink towards Beethoven's grandfather, who was baptized in the Sint-Katelijnekerk in Mechelen and later lived in the neighbourhood.
Corona, which in 2020 had thwarted a trip to Bonn by the Haydn society, and perhaps also a hint of crisis fear influenced the attendance.
Those present were immediately confronted with Haydn's last Symphony, performed by only five musicians. One of the most important links in the play of themes and melodies was flutist Paolo Ferraris. For Ries and Beethoven, a viola, a double bass and two impressive horn players were added. And it was a joy to hear the surprising impact of Ferdinand Ries, the so unjustly forgotten student, secretary and friend of Beethoven, that Lehnert decided in 2008 to establish a Ferdinand Ries Gesellschaft.
Sometimes a somewhat shrill or thin phrasing stood out against the lush orchestral sounds that are imprinted in everyone's ears. But all in all, a dancing overture to "Die Geschöpfe des Prometheus" and a striking Fifth Symphony by Beethoven managed to wipe away that memory and the miniature orchestra received a standing ovation.
There was no encore. Perhaps Wolfram Lehnert kept it in reserve for a possible Beethoven descendant, for he knew there were still dozens roaming around in our region and hopefully asked if one of Beethoven's descendants was present. Alas without success...
WHO: Ensemble van Beethoven Bonn
WHAT: Joseph Haydn – Ferdinand Ries – Ludwig van Beethoven
WHERE: Sint-Katelijnekerk (Mechelen)
WHEN: 25 September at 15:00