Just as Haydn's preceding large German oratorio, Die Schöpfung ('The Creation'), seems to place a final stamp on the 18th century, Die Jahreszeiten (Hob. XXI:3) opens a door to the 19th: the work of nearly ever major composer of the German Romanticism that followed - Mendelssohn, Schumann, Brahms and Wagner - found its starting point in this masterpiece by the nearly 70-year-old Haydn.
This composition has assumed a key role in the work of the Purcell Choir and Orfeo Orchestra: it was considered a major milestone in the history of the two ensembles founded by György Vashegyi when they played the extraordinary score for the first time in 2003 in the Catholic church in Fertőszentmiklós. Since then, the ensembles have included Haydn's masterpiece in their concert programmes on many occasions, and it was a great honour for them to get to play it under the batons of Helmuth Rilling and René Jacobs respectively at Müpa Budapest's 2013 and 2014 New Year's concerts. They will perform the work, which now qualifies as a repertoire piece, on period instruments in the Béla Bartók National Concert Hall.

Presented by: Sysart Kft., Orfeo Music Foundation