Nikolaus Harnoncourt: Celebrates the Seasons

Considered one of the most influential conductors of our time, Nikolaus Harnoncourt is set to return with a new recording of Joseph Haydn’s “The Seasons”. To be released on German label Deutsche Harmonia Mundi, Harnoncourt’s version of the piece is to be seen as a tribute to a work which has often stood in the shadow of its bigger sister “The Creation”. In fact, “The Seasons” was an immediate response to “The Creation”, whose enormous success inspired Haydn to continue writing in the same vein to meet public demand. Haydn also commissioned the libretto to both compositions from Gottfried van Swieten, an Austrian noble, whose influence furthermore extended to other famous artists of his time, including Mozart. According to the press release, the two works are to be regarded “a complementary pair” in the version of Nikolaus Harnoncourt, “each, strictly speaking, a secular work, but in extolling the wonders of nature, each expressing reverence for the Creator.” Only available in November of 2008, the CD will see Harnoncourt team up with Concentus Musicus Wien in a live recording from Styriarte Festival in Graz.