Haydn Scena «Berenice, che fai?» | Il Giardino Armonico | Giovanni Antonini | Sandrine Piau

Joseph Haydn (1732-1809): Scena «Berenice, che fai?», Hob. XXIVa:10
Il Giardino Armonico | Giovanni Antonini, Conductor | Sandrine Piau, Soprano
Recorded at Martinskirche Basel, concert of october 31, 2018.
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In the lead-up to the 300th anniversary of Joseph Haydn's birth in 2032, the Joseph Haydn Foundation in Basel is organising, producing and financing the performance and recording of all 107 of the composer's symphonies by Il Giardino Armonico and Basel Chamber Orchestra under the artistic direction of Giovanni Antonini, one of the most highly-respected specialists in baroque, early classical and classical music, with its project Haydn2032.
Tags: Joseph Haydn, Haydn2032, Scena «Berenice, che fai?», Il Giardino Armonico, Giovanni Antonini, Sandrine Piau

[@user-lt6rz7ws6k]

👍👍

[@elaineblackhurst1509]

Simply magnificent - both the music and the performance.
Written towards the end of Haydn’s second long visit to England for Brigida Banti - the personification of a temperamental prima donna, and one of the most famous sopranos of the age - ‘Berenice, che fai ? was first performed at Haydn’s benefit concert in London on 4 May 1795 (along with the premiere of Symphony 104).
Mozart’s librettist Da Ponte described Banti - who could not read music and was somewhat free with her morals - as ‘…a fury, a demon of Hell’.
Haydn rose magnificently to the challenge of matching the great Metastasian text to the undoubted dramatic and vocal skills of La Banti.
This work is supremely skilful, inspired, and highly professional Italian vocal music, and the composer produced one of the greatest stand-alone scena’s of the Classical period, something that can stand alongside works of the calibre of Mozart’s Ch’io mi scordi di te (K505).
I think it is helpful for those who do not understand Italian to have a translation at hand; the entire scena is a dramatic story of despair, pleading, grief, madness - almost, and so forth, and it helps to know exactly what is going on at each point.
Haydn’s powerful, emotional, and harmonically daring music reflects brilliantly the drama and anguish of the abandoned lover, and Haydn’s very self-confident and complex setting of the text is under-pinned by his use of the orchestra throughout.
Regarding Sandrine Piau - è un vero piacere d’ascoltarvi - I think she rises spectacularly, naturally, and easily to the technical difficulties of the work; she delivers the emotional power of the work; copes easily with the two-octave vocal range; and also delivers with great sensitivity and feeling, the great beauties of the work as well.
Robbins Landon (Volume 3: Haydn in London 1791-1795, pp371 - 375) goes into great detail about the work, and to explain the very daring musical modulations and tonal structure of the scena which are indeed astonishing, but directly linked to Berenice’s plight as she sings about it.
The work moves boldly through a typical Haydnesque 3rds-sequence which - in short - begins in D major and ends in f minor.
The work was clearly studied by Beethoven no less, and HCRL shows that he used the Scena di Berenice as a ‘…direct model’ for his own Ah! perfido, written the following year.
All these musical considerations are fully understood by Giovanni Antonini, Sandrine Piau, and the orchestra, who deliver the work with great power, sensitivity and impact, in a performance that stands comparison with a number of very good performances to be found elsewhere, such as by Bartoli and Harnoncourt; bravi tutti.
Indeed Sandrine Piau certainly delivers a better performance than it appears did Brigida Banti in 1795, whom Haydn recorded in his notebook - in his not quite perfect English:
‘Signora Banti (She song [sic] very scanty’).

[@danybur]

Thank you!

[@wzdavi]

There's another amazing performance that's out there, Dame Janet Baker, and The ECO, under Raymond Leppard. These are amazing detailed notes. Thank you.

[@elaineblackhurst1509]

@@wzdavi
This scena is a work which really only should be tackled by top singers who understand the music of the period, and have both the technical skill and the artistic ability to pull it off; when these factors are present, the results are fantastic, and there are a string of sensational performances (of which Janet Baker was one of the earliest in the ‘modern’ era).
When sung by lesser stars, the performances of Berenice, che fai ? are markedly less good, resulting in my experience, in a work that is either performed exceptionally well, or terribly badly.

[@brutusalwaysminded]

@@wzdavi Agreed!

[@lisbethsalander8931]

The orchestra, Sandrine Piau and your comment are amazing. Mi scusa, ma diciamo cosí; é un vero piacere ascoltarla. ( per Sandrine Piau). Thanks and grazie.

[@mateomo]

Excelente!

[@achilles231]

Superlative performance. Who is the singer?

[@Haydn2032]

Sandrine Piau

[@danybur]

La Piau cada vez canta mejor!

[@calbert78721]

Sandrine Piau sings on the album recording, and sounds like this might be her too

[@jasonhurd4379]

Yes, this is Miss Piau. I knew her as soon as I saw her face.

[@lylecohen1638]

7:17

[@evalinnert7736]

Was für ein Vergnügen Sie Alle zu hören und sehen ❤ Merci 😊