Haydn's London Symphony
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- What you'll hear
- All about the music
Refreshing. Zesty. Like a good gin and tonic.
Who’s on stage
A total dream team. Conductor Giovanni Antonini and pianist Kristian Bezuidenhout are real specialists when it comes to the music of Haydn, guaranteed to make it sound like new. They’re partnering with our very own Royal Northern Sinfonia.
What they’re playing
If you like Franz Joseph Haydn’s music you’re in for a treat, because that’s almost all we’re playing – two of his symphonies (85 and 104 for those that are counting) and Piano Concerto No. 11.
Need to know
Discounts: save if you’re under 17, aged 18 – 30, a classical first timer, or a group of 10 or more people. Check the details.
Running time: 2 hours, including a 20 minute interval.
Age: under 14s must be accompanied by an adult.
What you'll hear
Franz Joseph Haydn Symphony No. 85 ‘La Reine’
Franz Joseph Haydn Piano Concerto No. 11
Joseph Martin Kraus Olympie Overture
Franz Joseph Haydn Symphony No. 104 ‘London’
Who's playing it
Giovanni Antonini conductor
Kristian Bezuidenhout piano
Royal Northern Sinfonia
What's happening in the music?
There’s really no better word than zesty to describe the music of Haydn. His music has just got such zing to it: it’s bright and fresh and just a bit cheeky. Haydn’s Piano Concerto No. 11 is full of catchy tunes, so it’s no wonder it’s become his most popular piano concerto. His ‘London’ Symphony is bold and decisive yet charming and marked his triumphant farewell to a city in which he was THE celebrity of the day.
Josef Haydn: Superstar
Today it’s easy to think of composers as sort of ‘museum objects’ – fusty old men in portraits (well, mostly men, that’s a whole other article). It’s easy to forget they were real people. Take Josef Haydn for example. His reputation is of someone a bit ‘mid’ – perhaps a little dull. But Haydn was the Taylor Swift of his day in terms of his fame. He was an international superstar, and when he arrived in London on his first visit in 1791 (a massive undertaking given the overland journey from Austria) he was treated like a rockstar. He said “My arrival caused a great sensation throughout the whole city, and I went the round of all the newspapers for three successive days. Everyone wants to know me. I had to dine out six times up to now, and if I wanted, I could dine out every day.”
There was a total mania for everything Haydn in the country. The King and Prince of Wales were fans, he received a honorary doctorate from Oxford and even had adoring notes from female fans sent to him. And of course the public lapped his music up.
Read more about his time in London on The Guardian website.
