For some reason I can't explain, Hogwood is a conductor/performer I've always connected with. Even in his not-so-good recordings I find something special. When he died, I was in tears and as a personal tribute I listened to three of his recordings: Messiah, Pulcinella, and... The Creation.
Sort of off topic, but believe it or not I’ll always be grateful to Hogwood for getting me beyond my fear of Arnold Schoenberg. When he came to conduct the National Symphony in Washington, he turned to the audience and said, “Schoenberg liked to tell funny stories … without smiling. His music is like that!” I’ve been a Schoenbergian ever since. Hogwood, of all people!
I can imagine this being fairly close to the 1808 performance celebrating Haydn’s birthday. It was a star setted event in Vienna at that time. Kapelmiester Salieri was the conductor. Beethoven, Constanze Mozart and her children were there and Wolfgang was there too and listening from heaven of course. Most of the aristocrats from Austria were there including Emperor Francis and when Haydn who couldn’t walk was brought into the room the choir and orchestra stopped to acknowledge him and he received a standing ovation. Beethoven went up to kiss Haydn’s hand which was a greeting at that time. Oh I wish I could have been there. Such a beautiful event and moment in history that truly captured the spirit and impact Haydn’s music had and still has today. I’m so sad they deleted this on Spotify.
The Creation is a great choice for Hogwood. I have to say, though, for me, my life would be much poorer without his delicious Telemann Double and Triple Concerto disc....love it!
I have this recording and love it. Another Hogwood & AAM recording I am very fond of is the Pergolesi Stabat Mater, yes with Emma Kirkby and James Bowman (countertenor).
It might be worth adding that Hogwood did something similar in his Beethoven cycle (like it or not). Not all of the symphonies but in the 7th and 9th he doubled the forces. For instance 8 horns, 4 trumpets and 6 trombones in the 9th. Much the same effect as in the Creation although arguably his account of the 9th Symphony is not quite on the same level as the Haydn.
Glad to see Hogwood get a shout out despite the reaction against the HIP movement. I have quite a lot of his stuff and enjoy most of it, even if some don't entirely succeed. I used to know a (lesser) opera diva who would regale me with stories about the behind-the-scenes pecadilloes of people she encountered in the classical world and she had some doozies about Hogwood that are not fit for a family RUclips channel.
I like your continued comments about "period" music being performed with forces too small. As a string player there's a greater risk of overplaying one's instrument just to try and hear your part. If one is sourrounded by others on your part, you can relax and play without stress. There's a difference between volume and stress.
Thank you David. I have loved Haydn's music all my life but never got The Creation. That is even though I have performed in it several times as a choral singer or as a timpanist. At the right time, I will certainly listen to Hogwood's performance and give myself a chance of appreciating another Haydn masterpiece.
You always wanted to know how the Big Bang that started thr universe sounded? Haydn knew!! Pt 1, In the beginning: "And God said 'Let there be light' . And there was L I G H T !!!" One of the most astonishing moments in Music History. Haydn had such an immense imagination...
Great choice! I was hoping it would be The Creation before you said it! A rare example of setting out to achieve something, and really succeeding. I agree with others too that 'Messiah' or 'Dido' could also have been worthy contenders.
That’s nice to include Hogwood in this series. He did so much, rather unassumingly, and it was generally very well presented and annotated. I like some of his performances of twentieth century neoclassical stuff too. I enjoy this particular recording- although I’m quite happy (depending on mood I guess) to listen to smaller scale ones eg Bruno Weil.
This recording of "Creation" has been recommended so many times by critics and listeners alike, I really need to hear it. The irony is, that when Hogwood came to record the Haydn Symphonies he favored an emaciated-sounding ensemble with minimal forces (though, thankfully, no harpsichord). I gather that this decision was based on the forces available to the composer at Esterhaza. But a good case can be made that Haydn would have liked a bigger sound.
My choice too! (And, related, Dorati's recreation of the Westminster Abbey 1784 Handel Messiah.) Also the DVD for those who want to see whatcwas going on. It was either this or Haydn's Orfeo.
Great choice, although my pick for Cancrizans would be Hogwood's recording of "Rinaldo", which - despite René Jacobs' valiant effort - remains unsurpassed imho.
Hi Dave - I would give this a go, but like so many great, dare I say "reference" recordings, Hogwood's recording is only available as a download, and isn't available as physical product. I've just checked the main suppliers and it's not there as physical product! I just don't do downloads and so will have to wait until Universal come to their senses and re-release it on compact disc, or until Presto hopefully make it available under license on their own label. I guess the Hogwood must be the reference recording of The Creation right? Or at least the reference recording when sung in English. Aaargh, I'm fuming!
Oh, I love this recording of the Creation. Still, this is somewhat unfair, as Hogwood also did some important work outside the period music universe. He was also a Martinů music editor and conductor. So, maybe one should really speak about two Hogwoods, and have an option to choose one work by each. I would still choose his Messiah recording as it was the first period instruments recording of the music I got my hands on. And for the other Hogwood, It would be probably Martinů's violin concerto No. 2 rather than the witty La revue de cuisine.
But I Love the elitism and snobbery and even some of the BSism in Classical music! As Andy Rooney once opined...Snobs get a bad rap in our Society.....the snobs (whether they be wine snobs or art snobs or music snobs) are generally the ones who have enough understanding of a genre to make intelligent decisions about them......
Rooney wasn’t right. Snobbery isn’t about being right, it’s about thinking you’re better than everyone. That’s the irony. It purports to be about refined taste while actually having nothing at all to do with it. It’s an attitude.
For some reason I can't explain, Hogwood is a conductor/performer I've always connected with. Even in his not-so-good recordings I find something special. When he died, I was in tears and as a personal tribute I listened to three of his recordings: Messiah, Pulcinella, and... The Creation.
@@welshtoro3256 A well known French magazine picked some time ago a few Pulcinella “reference recordings” and one of them was Hogwood’s.
Sort of off topic, but believe it or not I’ll always be grateful to Hogwood for getting me beyond my fear of Arnold Schoenberg. When he came to conduct the National Symphony in Washington, he turned to the audience and said, “Schoenberg liked to tell funny stories … without smiling. His music is like that!” I’ve been a Schoenbergian ever since. Hogwood, of all people!
That's a great quote: “Schoenberg liked to tell funny stories … without smiling. His music is like that!”
Hogwood does deserve high praise for this performance.
I can imagine this being fairly close to the 1808 performance celebrating Haydn’s birthday. It was a star setted event in Vienna at that time. Kapelmiester Salieri was the conductor. Beethoven, Constanze Mozart and her children were there and Wolfgang was there too and listening from heaven of course. Most of the aristocrats from Austria were there including Emperor Francis and when Haydn who couldn’t walk was brought into the room the choir and orchestra stopped to acknowledge him and he received a standing ovation. Beethoven went up to kiss Haydn’s hand which was a greeting at that time. Oh I wish I could have been there. Such a beautiful event and moment in history that truly captured the spirit and impact Haydn’s music had and still has today. I’m so sad they deleted this on Spotify.
The Creation is a great choice for Hogwood. I have to say, though, for me, my life would be much poorer without his delicious Telemann Double and Triple Concerto disc....love it!
I have this recording and love it. Another Hogwood & AAM recording I am very fond of is the Pergolesi Stabat Mater, yes with Emma Kirkby and James Bowman (countertenor).
Ugh!
I atended a concert by Hogwood here in Brazil, 1992. The program was Beethoven's first symphony and Mozart's Clarinet Concerto. Nice!
I will David.
Thanks to the L Oiseau-Lyre box set, I own it.😊
It might be worth adding that Hogwood did something similar in his Beethoven cycle (like it or not). Not all of the symphonies but in the 7th and 9th he doubled the forces. For instance 8 horns, 4 trumpets and 6 trombones in the 9th. Much the same effect as in the Creation although arguably his account of the 9th Symphony is not quite on the same level as the Haydn.
Glad to see Hogwood get a shout out despite the reaction against the HIP movement. I have quite a lot of his stuff and enjoy most of it, even if some don't entirely succeed. I used to know a (lesser) opera diva who would regale me with stories about the behind-the-scenes pecadilloes of people she encountered in the classical world and she had some doozies about Hogwood that are not fit for a family RUclips channel.
I like your continued comments about "period" music being performed with forces too small. As a string player there's a greater risk of overplaying one's instrument just to try and hear your part. If one is sourrounded by others on your part, you can relax and play without stress. There's a difference between volume and stress.
Thank you David. I have loved Haydn's music all my life but never got The Creation. That is even though I have performed in it several times as a choral singer or as a timpanist. At the right time, I will certainly listen to Hogwood's performance and give myself a chance of appreciating another Haydn masterpiece.
Clearly a must hear😊
You always wanted to know how the Big Bang that started thr universe sounded?
Haydn knew!!
Pt 1, In the beginning: "And God said 'Let there be light' . And there was L I G H T !!!"
One of the most astonishing moments in Music History.
Haydn had such an immense imagination...
At 7.30 you mixed up Haydn with Handel. Lovely!
Oops.
Great choice! I was hoping it would be The Creation before you said it! A rare example of setting out to achieve something, and really succeeding. I agree with others too that 'Messiah' or 'Dido' could also have been worthy contenders.
That’s nice to include Hogwood in this series.
He did so much, rather unassumingly, and it was generally very well presented and annotated. I like some of his performances of twentieth century neoclassical stuff too.
I enjoy this particular recording- although I’m quite happy (depending on mood I guess) to listen to smaller scale ones eg Bruno Weil.
Just curious, which of the two versions by Bruno Weil are you referring to?
@@davidpeterkin1237 oh the one on Sony. With the boys’ choir
The evil classical god Cancrizans! Priceless!
This recording of "Creation" has been recommended so many times by critics and listeners alike, I really need to hear it. The irony is, that when Hogwood came to record the Haydn Symphonies he favored an emaciated-sounding ensemble with minimal forces (though, thankfully, no harpsichord). I gather that this decision was based on the forces available to the composer at Esterhaza. But a good case can be made that Haydn would have liked a bigger sound.
My choice too! (And, related, Dorati's recreation of the Westminster Abbey 1784 Handel Messiah.) Also the DVD for those who want to see whatcwas going on.
It was either this or Haydn's Orfeo.
This is a great recording but…I was blown away by the one you recommended some time ago and released by Naxos!
Lots of good stuff to pick from Hogwood, but my pick is Purcell's Dido and Aeneas.
Great choice, although my pick for Cancrizans would be Hogwood's recording of "Rinaldo", which - despite René Jacobs' valiant effort - remains unsurpassed imho.
That's a great one too.
Hi Dave - I would give this a go, but like so many great, dare I say "reference" recordings, Hogwood's recording is only available as a download, and isn't available as physical product. I've just checked the main suppliers and it's not there as physical product! I just don't do downloads and so will have to wait until Universal come to their senses and re-release it on compact disc, or until Presto hopefully make it available under license on their own label. I guess the Hogwood must be the reference recording of The Creation right? Or at least the reference recording when sung in English. Aaargh, I'm fuming!
Get McCreesh. Very similar--large force HIP with terrific soloists.
@@DavesClassicalGuide Thanks for the recommendation Dave - much appreciated.
Oh, I love this recording of the Creation. Still, this is somewhat unfair, as Hogwood also did some important work outside the period music universe. He was also a Martinů music editor and conductor. So, maybe one should really speak about two Hogwoods, and have an option to choose one work by each. I would still choose his Messiah recording as it was the first period instruments recording of the music I got my hands on. And for the other Hogwood, It would be probably Martinů's violin concerto No. 2 rather than the witty La revue de cuisine.
I never said that Cancrizans was fair. Hopefully the excellence of this recording will encourage him to preserve the rest.
But I Love the elitism and snobbery and even some of the BSism in Classical music! As Andy Rooney once opined...Snobs get a bad rap in our Society.....the snobs (whether they be wine snobs or art snobs or music snobs) are generally the ones who have enough understanding of a genre to make intelligent decisions about them......
Rooney wasn’t right. Snobbery isn’t about being right, it’s about thinking you’re better than everyone. That’s the irony. It purports to be about refined taste while actually having nothing at all to do with it. It’s an attitude.