Fiona Maddocks 

Haydn: Die Schöpfung review – wit, grandeur and riveting detail

Bernard Haitink conducts a sparkling live recording of this Haydn masterpiece, writes Fiona Maddocks
  
  

Bernard Haitink pictured in May 2014 in New York.
Bernard Haitink pictured in May 2014 in New York. Photograph: Hiroyuki Ito/Getty Images

This marvellous recording, sung in German, comes as a surprise, since Bernard Haitink is not obviously associated with Haydn. In fact he didn’t tackle The Creation until 2011, when he was 82. He approaches this great choral masterpiece with wit, unhurried grandeur, riveting orchestral detail and forward momentum – in short, with just the acuity he brings to anything he conducts. Based chiefly on the Old Testament book of Genesis and Milton’s Paradise Lost, its three sections describe the creation of the heavenly bodies, the banishing of Satan and the invention of all living creatures, as narrated by three angels, Gabriel (soprano Camilla Tilling), Uriel (tenor Mark Padmore), and Raphael (bass Hanno Müller-Brachmann). Choir, orchestra and soloists are on sparkling form in this live recording – an invigorating reminder, if any were needed, of Haydn’s genius.

 

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