Giovanni Antonini – Haydn 2032, Vol. 9: L’Addio (2021) [Official Digital Download 24bit/192kHz]

This ninth volume of the Haydn2032 series focuses on the composer’s psychological subtlety in its focus on a central work: his Symphony no. 45, known as the Abschieds-Symphonie (Farewell Symphony), composed in 1772. It is said to have got its nickname from a symbolic message Haydn conveyed to Prince Esterházy when he and his orchestra were required to stay longer than planned in the Prince’s summer residence. On the occasion of the symphony’s first performance, Haydn had arranged for the musicians to leave their places one by one during the final Adagio. The day after the concert, all the musicians were able to return to their families and bid farewell to the Prince, who had obviously taken the point of this poetic request for liberation expressed in music. The programme is completed by Symphonies nos. 15 and 35 and a cantata sung by Sandrine Piau, the heart-rending Berenice, che fai? on a text by Metastasio that was a real hit of the eighteenth century, set by some forty composers.

The last instalment of Giovanni Antonini’s complete works of Haydn with the ensemble Il Giardino Armonico features three symphonies and La Scena di Berenice sung by Sandrine Piau. We know the story of the symphony “The Farewell”, a subtle request from the composer to his prince to grant leave to exhausted musicians in his chapel. In the Finale, a moving Adagio, each musician blows the candles from his desk and leaves on tiptoe until the stage is empty. But this pleasant anecdote too often obscures any analysis of a work full of originality thanks to its rare key (F sharp minor) and the structure of its different movements.

While Joseph Haydn sets out a classical framework for the symphony, he simultaneously explodes the schema by means of an architecture which is constantly renewed through a continuous motion from major to minor keys. This is the case of Symphony No. 35 in B-Flat Major which opens this album, constantly oscillating between pure entertainment and drama in a spirit which is totally peculiar to the eighteenth century.

This long search for form led Haydn to take sometimes unusual paths, as in this Symphony No. 15 in D Major, which seems to synthesise his research from the late 1750s. The Minuet is for example placed in second position, before an Andante of great simplicity and a final Presto in the form of a rondo. Inspired by Metastasio’s Antigone and premiered in London in 1765, la Scena di Berenice is Haydn’s greatest dramatic scene outside of his operas. Abandoned by her lover, Bérénice sings her despair and rage through music full of boldness. – François Hudry

Tracklist:

01. Il Giardino Armonico – Symphony No.35 in B-Flat Major, Hob.I:35: I. Allegro di molto (06:57)
02. Il Giardino Armonico – Symphony No.35 in B-Flat Major, Hob.I:35: II. Andante (05:25)
03. Il Giardino Armonico – Symphony No.35 in B-Flat Major, Hob.I:35: III. Menuet. Un poco allegretto – Trio (02:49)
04. Il Giardino Armonico – Symphony No.35 in B-Flat Major, Hob.I:35: IV. Finale. Presto (03:31)
05. Il Giardino Armonico – Symphony No.45 in F-Sharp Minor, Hob.I:45 ‘Farewell’: I. Allegro assai (07:39)
06. Il Giardino Armonico – Symphony No.45 in F-Sharp Minor, Hob.I:45 ‘Farewell’: II. Adagio (09:47)
07. Il Giardino Armonico – Symphony No.45 in F-Sharp Minor, Hob.I:45 ‘Farewell’: III. Menuet. Allegretto – Trio (02:53)
08. Il Giardino Armonico – Symphony No.45 in F-Sharp Minor, Hob.I:45 ‘Farewell’: IV. Finale. Presto (02:51)
09. Il Giardino Armonico – Symphony No.45 in F-Sharp Minor, Hob.I:45 ‘Farewell’: V. Adagio (04:25)
10. Sandrine Piau – Scena di Berenice, Hob.XXIVa:10: Recitativo ‘Berenice, che fai?’ (04:31)
11. Sandrine Piau – Scena di Berenice, Hob.XXIVa:10: [Cavatina e] Recitativo: ‘Non partir… Me infelice’ (02:54)
12. Sandrine Piau – Scena di Berenice, Hob.XXIVa:10: [Aria] ‘Perché, se tanti siete’ (04:51)
13. Il Giardino Armonico – Symphony No.15 in D Major, Hob.I:15: I. Adagio – Presto – Adagio (07:29)
14. Il Giardino Armonico – Symphony No.15 in D Major, Hob.I:15: II. Menuet – Trio (03:44)
15. Il Giardino Armonico – Symphony No.15 in D Major, Hob.I:15: III. Andante (05:39)
16. Il Giardino Armonico – Symphony No.15 in D Major, Hob.I:15: IV. Finale. Presto (02:01)