Haydn: The seasons

Following the success of Die Schöpfung (The Creation), which had swiftly gained popularity throughout Europe, Haydn’s librettist Baron Gottfried van Swieten suggested another project, based on James Thomson’s pastoral epic, The Seasons. One of Haydn’s last major works, Die Jahreszeiten depicts the yearly cycle of life in the countryside through the eyes of three peasants, providing us with music of thrilling vitality and creativity.

LSO0708  128 minutes 35 seconds (2 discs)
‘With the LSO on prime form … [Sir Colin Davis] is as responsive as ever both to the zest and humour of this most joyous of oratorios, and to the symphonic / contrapuntal grandeur of movements li ...
'Colin Davis is alive to every nuance of Haydn’s late masterpiece. The conductor’s lightness of touch allows the music to flow like quicksilver … the soloists are also on beguiling form … Si ...
'Sir Colin Davis’s 1969 recording of this oratorio for Philips was considered a landmark, so it’s interesting that, 40 years on, he has revisited it with the London Symphony Orchestra and Chorus. Hayd ...