Thanks to Sven from Brainerd for sending us a collated list of Nikolaus Harnoncourt’s rep for 2008. I’m a huge Harnoncourt fan, even though he’s as likely to make me scream in horror as cheer in admiration, sometimes in the same piece. Just this weekend I heard his Hallelujah Chorus on Radio 3. It starts so slowly and softly and affectedly that I really couldn’t take it remotely seriously (I didn’t know who I was listening to, which makes it more interesting sometimes- my first reaction to the opening was “whoever this is is a fraud”). However, the performance really took off and came to a thrilling ending, full of fascinating touches and compelling ideas. In the end, it was a vivid example of why he’s one of the most interesting musicians on earth.
Anyway, his is the smallest list so far- less than 30 works, but several operas and even more single-work programs. What I like most about his list is that it seems like a declaration of principles- you can certainly tell which composers he feels most passionately about. I wish I could have heard all the big Schumann works.
Nikolaus Harnoncourt- 2008 Repertoire Report 1- Bach: Aus tiefer Not schrei ich zu dir, Cantata BWV 38
2- 2- Bach- Freue dich, erloeste Schar, Cantata BWV 30
3- Bach- Wachet, betet, Cantata BWV 70
4- Bach- St John Passion
5- Beethoven- Symphony no. 5
6- Bruckner- Symphony no. 5
7- Haydn- The Seasons
8- Haydn- Symphony no 60 in C Major
9- Haydn: Symphony in G major No. 92 (Oxford)
10- Haydn- In un mar d’acerbe pene. Aria from: L’anima del filosofo, ossia Orfeo ed Euridice, Hob. XXVIII:13
11- Haydn- Ah, tu non senti, amico. Aria, Hob. XXIVb:10
12- Haydn- Symphony in C major, No. 97
13- Joseph Haydn: Symphony in A major No. 59 (Fire Symphony)
14- Haydn- Fra un dolce deliro, aria of Silvia from L´isola disabitata
15- Haydn- Ragion nell´alma siede, aria of Flaminia from Il mondo della luna
16- Haydn- Salamelica, aria of Volpino from Lo speziale
17- Mozart: Tiger! Wetze nur die Klauen, aria of Zaide from Zaide, K 344
18- Mozart- Alma grande e nobil core, aria for soprano and orchestra, K 578
19- Mozart- Hat der Schöpfer dieses Leben samt der Erde uns gegeben, aria of Weltgeist from Die Schuldigkeit des ersten Gebots
20- Mozart- Vorrei spiegarvi, oh Dio!, aria for soprano and orchestra, K 418
21- Mozart- Idomeneo
22- Mozart- Risolver non osa. Aria from: Il sogno di Scipione, KV 126
23- Mozart-Di que sei l’arbitra. Aria from: Il sogno di Scipione, KV 126
24- Mozart- Non ter, amato bene. Aria from: Idomeneo, re di Creta, KV 366
25- Mozart- Coronation Mass
26- Schumann- Faust Scenes
27- Schumann- Paradise and the Peri
28- Schumann- Genoveva
29- Stravinsky- Rakes Progress
The Schumann interest me as well; Schumann’s use of the orchestra seems to have received some welcome rethinking lately. But I’m very curious about Harnoncourt’s Rake’s Progress: it’s a piece both associated with a very different style of historically informed performance practice and very much of the twentieth century, quite a balancing act.