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Several factors contributed to the appearance of this release on classical charts in early 2023. The music had been only recently rediscovered in a Budapest library, and the album was issued as part of a series covering forgotten compositions associated with the Esterházy family. Additionally, Michael Haydn is generally underrepresented on recordings, even though he was greatly admired in his own time, even by the usually hyper-critical Mozart, but the biggest reason is that the music is highly listenable. This oratorio could easily be taken for one of Mozart's Salzburg compositions. The title Kaiser Constantin I.: Feldzug und Sieg ("Emperor Constantine I; Campaign and victory") refers to an episode in Roman history that modern listeners may have forgotten, although those of Haydn's time would have known it. The text deals with Roman emperor Constantine's victory over his rival Maxentius in the year 312 C.E., which among other things, ushered in an era of tolerance for Christianity. Constantine is said to have received a divine sign in the form of a burning cross in the air, but mostly the text is allegorical; the five solo parts are for Theology, Faintheartedness, Philosophy, Belief, and Bravery. All are sopranos; an additional alto part, here sung by a countertenor, appears at the end. Hungary's Purcell Choir gets top billing on this release by the Orfeo Orchestra and conductor György Vashegyi, but it actually has little to do. Most of the music is given over to soprano arias and duets, many of them of an extremely athletic character. Vashegyi picks his singers well, and the effect is one of a procession of contrasts. The music is strong enough that one might wish to hear it performed by true A-listers, but really, it is hard to fault the singing here. The work can certainly be recommended to music programs that have a surfeit of soprano talent in a given year. Beyond that, it belongs on shelves and hard drives with good collections of Classical-period music.
© James Manheim /TiVo
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Kaiser Constantin I "Feldzug und Sieg" (Michael Haydn)
Michael Haydn, Composer - Orfeo Orchestra, Orchestra, MainArtist - György Vashegyi, Conductor, MainArtist
(C) 2022 Accent (P) 2022 Accent
Michael Haydn, Composer - Orfeo Orchestra, Orchestra, MainArtist - György Vashegyi, Conductor, MainArtist - Katalin Szutrély, Artist, MainArtist
(C) 2022 Accent (P) 2022 Accent
Michael Haydn, Composer - Orfeo Orchestra, Orchestra, MainArtist - György Vashegyi, Conductor, MainArtist - Katalin Szutrély, Artist, MainArtist
(C) 2022 Accent (P) 2022 Accent
Michael Haydn, Composer - Emoke Baräth, Artist, MainArtist - Klára Kolonits, Artist, MainArtist - Orfeo Orchestra, Orchestra, MainArtist - György Vashegyi, Conductor, MainArtist - Chantal Santon-Jeffery, Artist, MainArtist - Theodora Raftis, Artist, MainArtist
(C) 2022 Accent (P) 2022 Accent
Michael Haydn, Composer - Klára Kolonits, Artist, MainArtist - Orfeo Orchestra, Orchestra, MainArtist - György Vashegyi, Conductor, MainArtist - Theodora Raftis, Artist, MainArtist
(C) 2022 Accent (P) 2022 Accent
Michael Haydn, Composer - Orfeo Orchestra, Orchestra, MainArtist - György Vashegyi, Conductor, MainArtist - Chantal Santon-Jeffery, Artist, MainArtist
(C) 2022 Accent (P) 2022 Accent
Michael Haydn, Composer - Orfeo Orchestra, Orchestra, MainArtist - György Vashegyi, Conductor, MainArtist - Chantal Santon-Jeffery, Artist, MainArtist
(C) 2022 Accent (P) 2022 Accent
Michael Haydn, Composer - Emoke Baräth, Artist, MainArtist - Orfeo Orchestra, Orchestra, MainArtist - György Vashegyi, Conductor, MainArtist - Chantal Santon-Jeffery, Artist, MainArtist
(C) 2022 Accent (P) 2022 Accent
Michael Haydn, Composer - Emoke Baräth, Artist, MainArtist - Orfeo Orchestra, Orchestra, MainArtist - György Vashegyi, Conductor, MainArtist
(C) 2022 Accent (P) 2022 Accent
DISC 2
Michael Haydn, Composer - Emoke Baräth, Artist, MainArtist - Klára Kolonits, Artist, MainArtist - Orfeo Orchestra, Orchestra, MainArtist - György Vashegyi, Conductor, MainArtist - Katalin Szutrély, Artist, MainArtist - Theodora Raftis, Artist, MainArtist
(C) 2022 Accent (P) 2022 Accent
Michael Haydn, Composer - Orfeo Orchestra, Orchestra, MainArtist - György Vashegyi, Conductor, MainArtist - Katalin Szutrély, Artist, MainArtist - Theodora Raftis, Artist, MainArtist
(C) 2022 Accent (P) 2022 Accent
Michael Haydn, Composer - Emoke Baräth, Artist, MainArtist - Klára Kolonits, Artist, MainArtist - Orfeo Orchestra, Orchestra, MainArtist - György Vashegyi, Conductor, MainArtist - Theodora Raftis, Artist, MainArtist
(C) 2022 Accent (P) 2022 Accent
Michael Haydn, Composer - Purcell Choir, Choir, MainArtist - Orfeo Orchestra, Orchestra, MainArtist - György Vashegyi, Conductor, MainArtist - Chantal Santon-Jeffery, Artist, MainArtist
(C) 2022 Accent (P) 2022 Accent
Michael Haydn, Composer - Emoke Baräth, Artist, MainArtist - Klára Kolonits, Artist, MainArtist - Orfeo Orchestra, Orchestra, MainArtist - György Vashegyi, Conductor, MainArtist - Chantal Santon-Jeffery, Artist, MainArtist - Katalin Szutrély, Artist, MainArtist
(C) 2022 Accent (P) 2022 Accent
Michael Haydn, Composer - Klára Kolonits, Artist, MainArtist - Orfeo Orchestra, Orchestra, MainArtist - György Vashegyi, Conductor, MainArtist
(C) 2022 Accent (P) 2022 Accent
Michael Haydn, Composer - Emoke Baräth, Artist, MainArtist - Klára Kolonits, Artist, MainArtist - Orfeo Orchestra, Orchestra, MainArtist - György Vashegyi, Conductor, MainArtist - Chantal Santon-Jeffery, Artist, MainArtist - Katalin Szutrély, Artist, MainArtist
(C) 2022 Accent (P) 2022 Accent
Michael Haydn, Composer - Purcell Choir, Choir, MainArtist - Orfeo Orchestra, Orchestra, MainArtist - György Vashegyi, Conductor, MainArtist
(C) 2022 Accent (P) 2022 Accent
Album review
Several factors contributed to the appearance of this release on classical charts in early 2023. The music had been only recently rediscovered in a Budapest library, and the album was issued as part of a series covering forgotten compositions associated with the Esterházy family. Additionally, Michael Haydn is generally underrepresented on recordings, even though he was greatly admired in his own time, even by the usually hyper-critical Mozart, but the biggest reason is that the music is highly listenable. This oratorio could easily be taken for one of Mozart's Salzburg compositions. The title Kaiser Constantin I.: Feldzug und Sieg ("Emperor Constantine I; Campaign and victory") refers to an episode in Roman history that modern listeners may have forgotten, although those of Haydn's time would have known it. The text deals with Roman emperor Constantine's victory over his rival Maxentius in the year 312 C.E., which among other things, ushered in an era of tolerance for Christianity. Constantine is said to have received a divine sign in the form of a burning cross in the air, but mostly the text is allegorical; the five solo parts are for Theology, Faintheartedness, Philosophy, Belief, and Bravery. All are sopranos; an additional alto part, here sung by a countertenor, appears at the end. Hungary's Purcell Choir gets top billing on this release by the Orfeo Orchestra and conductor György Vashegyi, but it actually has little to do. Most of the music is given over to soprano arias and duets, many of them of an extremely athletic character. Vashegyi picks his singers well, and the effect is one of a procession of contrasts. The music is strong enough that one might wish to hear it performed by true A-listers, but really, it is hard to fault the singing here. The work can certainly be recommended to music programs that have a surfeit of soprano talent in a given year. Beyond that, it belongs on shelves and hard drives with good collections of Classical-period music.
© James Manheim /TiVo
About the album
- 2 disc(s) - 17 track(s)
- Total length: 01:31:28
- Main artists: Orfeo Orchestra
- Composer: Michael Haydn
- Label: Accent
- Genre: Classical
(C) 2022 Accent (P) 2022 Accent
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