Luigi Cherubini: Chant sur la mort de Joseph Haydn; Symphony in D major (2009)
Marilyn Schmiege, soprano; Martyn Hill, tenor; Paolo Barbacini, tenor
Cappella Coloniensis; Gabriele Ferro, conductor
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue&Log) ~ 215 Mb | Mp3 (CBR320) ~ 120 Mb | Scans included
Genre: Classical | Label: Phoenix Edition | # 175 | Time: 00:50:56
Marilyn Schmiege, soprano; Martyn Hill, tenor; Paolo Barbacini, tenor
Cappella Coloniensis; Gabriele Ferro, conductor
EAC | FLAC | Image (Cue&Log) ~ 215 Mb | Mp3 (CBR320) ~ 120 Mb | Scans included
Genre: Classical | Label: Phoenix Edition | # 175 | Time: 00:50:56
Luigi Cherubini's Chant sur la mort de Joseph Haydn was not, in the event, written after Haydn's death in 1809, but in response to a premature report of that event in 1804. The revival of Classical-period music has thus far given Cherubini short shrift, which is surprising in connection with the man whom Beethoven called the greatest living composer. Maybe this German release, by the veteran historical-instrument ensemble Cappella Coloniensis, will stimulate fresh activity. The chief attraction here is the seldom recorded tribute to Haydn. It's a wonderful work, with an unorthodox form that seems to bespeak strong feeling. Cherubini worked from an existing funeral text by Masonic author Louis Guillemain de Saint-Victor, but the shape of the piece is his own. He opens with a slow, profound polyphonic introduction that not only must have appealed to Beethoven but perhaps even influenced the idiom of his late works.