PROGRAM

BOCCHERINI Flute Quintet in D major Op. 19 No. 6 Las Parejas

HAYDN String Quartet No. 62 in C major Op. 76 No. 3 Emperor/Kaiser

MOZART String Quartet No. 21 in D major First Prussian/The Violet K. 575

HAYDN Symphony No. 100 in G major The Military (arr. Salomon)

Boccherini's playful flute quintet Las Parejas (The Couples) opens our season. The title refers to a Spanish horse race in which two horsemen ride hand in hand. Boccherini infuses the quintet with a military flavour, reminiscent of his famous work Night Streets of Madrid.

Haydn’s String Quartet Op. 76 No. 3 The Emperor, one of his most famous, takes its nickname from the beautiful second movement set of variations based on the theme of  ‘Gott erhalte Franz den Kaiser’ (God Save Emperor Francis), an anthem Haydn wrote for Emperor Francis II. Along with this, the Ensemble performs Mozart’s string quartet The First Prussian dedicated to the King of Prussia, Friedrich Wilhelm II, an amateur cellist.

AHE also presents Salomon’s compelling chamber arrangement of Haydn’s Symphony No. 100 nicknamed The Military. Over the past seven years, the Ensemble has explored many of the chamber versions of Haydn’s London Symphonies arranged by his dear friend Salomon and we are excited to bring this one to our audiences in 2020.

PROGRAM

MOZART Symphony No. 33 in B flat major K. 319

MOZART  Violin Concerto No. 2 in D major K. 211

HAYDN Symphony No. 80 in D minor

HAYDN Violin Concerto in C major Hob VII:a1

Midori Seiler is equally comfortable playing baroque violin concerti with orchestras such as Budapest Festival Orchestra or Tafelmusik, Toronto, as she is performing classical or romantic violin concerti with orchestras such as Anima Eterna, Concerto Köln or Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin. 

Long-term concertmaster of Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin and Anima Eterna Brugge, she makes her Australian debut with the AHE as guest director and soloist in this dazzling season finale of Mozart and Haydn symphonies and concerti.

The program opens with Mozart’s bright and joyous Symphony No. 33. This is followed by his brilliant but lesser-known Violin Concerto No. 2 in D major showcasing Midori’s outstanding virtuosity and her poise in the beautiful slow movement.

In the second half of the program, Haydn’s Symphony No. 80 in D minor will provide plenty of Sturm and Drang. His virtuosic spirit shines through as we finish the year performing the Violin Concerto in C major.

One of Australia’s most loved and acclaimed sopranos, Sara Macliver and Australian-born International conductor and harpsichord director Benjamin Bayl join the Australian Haydn Ensemble for a stunning program of Handel and Scarlatti.

The program centres around the theme of the Delirium of Love. Handel’s cantata Il Delirio Amoroso was written during Handel’s time in Italy and was first performed in 1707. It features a virtuosic soprano line that is beautifully balanced by solo writing for oboe, recorder and cello. Handel later reused parts of the work in Acis and Galatea and Jephtha.

Il Delirio is beautifully contrasted by Silete Venti, one of Handel’s most transcendent motets which traverses the boundaries of divine and mortal love.

The program also features Handel’s beautiful and tragic love aria from Alcina 'Tornami a vagheggiar’ along with two powerful concerto grossi - the first by Avison, after Domenico Scarlatti, and another by Alessandro Scarlatti.

The program will be directed by special guest artist Benjamin Bayl (Associate Director of The Hanover Band) who makes his debut performance with the Ensemble. Born and raised in Sydney, Benjamin is Co-Founder of the Australian Romantic & Classical Orchestra. He was the first Australian Organ Scholar of King’s College Cambridge, and subsequently studied conducting at London's Royal Academy of Music. He has made highly successful debuts in recent seasons with such orchestras as Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra, ANAM, and symphony orchestras throughout Scandinavia, Germany and Italy in particular, as well as many of Europe’s great opera houses. Working extensively in the period instrument field, recent and regular partnerships include The Hanover Band, Collegium Vocale Gent, B’Rock, Concerto Copenhagen, Concerto Köln, Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, Wroclaw Baroque Orchestra and Warsaw Chamber Opera.

We are also extremely thrilled to welcome back soprano Sara Macliver replacing Stefanie True, who unfortunately, is no longer able to join us. Sara has performed and recorded with many international and Australian leading period instrument and modern orchestras including the Academy of Ancient Music, Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, Sydney Symphony, Adelaide Symphony, Western Australian Symphony, Pinchgut Opera, and featured in AHE’s acclaimed program Beautiful Boccherini in 2016. This is a program not to be missed!

PROGRAM

Avison/Scarlatti (After D. Scarlatti) Concerto Grosso No. 3 in D minor

Handel
Motet for soprano and instruments HWV 242
Silete Venti

Handel
Aria from Alcina 'Tornami a vagheggiar’

A. Scarlatti
Concerto Grosso No. 5 from Six Concerti in Seven Parts in D minor

Handel Cantata Il delirio amoroso HWV 99

It has been suggested that Mozart may have written his string quintets K. 515 and K. 516 to impress King Friedrich Wilhelm II of Prussia and to surpass the quintets written by Boccherini.

If true, this seems to have gone un-noticed by both the King and Boccherini. Boccherini’s divertimento Sextet for Flute and Strings contains all the drama and textures we have come to love and expect from his music with its Spanish and Italian inspiration. Mozart’s String Quartet in D minor, described as one of his best quartets, will not disappoint with its achingly beautiful melancholic opening.

The Ensemble continues its performance of previously unknown historical chamber versions of Beethoven’s symphonies with an Australian premiere of his Symphony No. 4 arranged by Watts for flute and string sextet. Music historian Robert Greenburg said of this work “If any of Beethoven's contemporaries had written this symphony, it would be considered that composer's masterwork, and that composer would be remembered forever for this.” 

PROGRAM

BOCCHERINI Sextet (Divertimento) for flute and strings in A major G. 463 Op. 16/3

MOZART String Quartet No. 15 in D minor K.421

BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 4 in B flat major Op. 60 arr. Watts

Mozart’s Flute Quartet in A major opens this French feast of chamber music. Although not written in France, the last movement of this charismatic work contains a French style Rondo highlighting Mozart’s comical reputation with the tempo indication: “not too fast, then not too slow. So-so, with great elegance and expression”.

Lesser-known French composer Hyacinthe Jadin dedicated his first set of three string quartets to Haydn. The Ensemble presents his beautiful String Quartet Op. 3 No. 1. Haydn’s influence is apparent in this delightful and playful work. Following this, the Devienne Flute Quartet Op. 16 No. 3 darkens the tone with its brooding opening movement in B minor. 

The turbulent mood continues with Haydn’s Symphony No. 87 in a string quartet arrangement believed to have been penned by Haydn himself. The symphony was part of his commission in the 1780s for the Parisian-based group Concerts de la Loge Olympique.

The program closes with a fittingly French work, Rameau’s Cinquième Concert from Pièces de clavecin en concerts, paying homage to earlier composers Forqueray and Marais. 

PROGRAM

Mozart Flute Quartet in A major K. 298

Jadin String Quartet in C major Op. 3 No. 1

Devienne Flute Quartet in B minor Op. 16 No. 3

Haydn Symphony No. 87 in A major (Paris) arr. Lim

Rameau Cinquième Concert from Pieces de clavecin en concerts in D minor arr. Anon.

In our first program for 2019, Artistic Director and violinist Skye McIntosh and the AHE quartet explore Haydn and nature. The Ensemble perform three of Haydn’s beloved string quartets, Sunrise, The Bird and The Lark .

In The Lark, Haydn masterfully weaves the first violin part in joyous birdsong-like melodies that fly above the other instruments. The work finishes with a fiendishly difficult moto perpetuo. This is followed by Haydn’s delightful and playfully chirpy string quartet The Bird.

At the heart of the program are selections from Haydn’s famous oratorio, The Creation.  The Ensemble presents movements from an historical string quartet arrangements from the eighteenth century. 

One of Haydn’s indisputable works of genius, the String Quartet Op. 76 No. 4 (Sunrise) closes the program. Although it was not nicknamed by Haydn himself, the opening bars of the quartet clearly evoke the image of daybreak.

PROGRAM

Haydn String Quartet in D major The Lark Op. 64 No. 5

Haydn String Quartet in C Major The Bird Op. 33. No. 3

Haydn The Creation for string quartet (selections) arr. Anon.

Haydn String Quartet in B flat major Sunrise Op. 76 No. 4