Die Jahreszeiten (The Seasons) (SACD)

In 2009, LSO Live released an acclaimed recording of Haydn's Die Schöpfung (The Creation) conducted by Sir Colin Davis. This month, Sir Colin returns to the music of Haydn with a superb cast of young singers for his later oratorio Die Jahreszeiten (The Seasons). Following the success of Die Schöpfung, 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 is music of thrilling vitality and creativity, depicting the yearly cycle of life in the countryside through the eyes of three peasants. Sir Colin's recent LSO Live release of Nielsen symphonies received an Editor's Choice in Gramophone and was a BBC Music Magazine Choice of the Month. Reviews: ***** Editor’s Choice ‘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 … Sir Colin, revelling in his glorious Indian summer with the LSO, points heavenwards in this visionary reading of Haydn’s late masterpiece’ Classic FM Magazine (UK) 'Davis’s affection is palpable at every turn of this handsomely balanced reading. The London Symphony Orchestra plays beautifully for him ... the soloists are also strong, especially the pure-voiced soprano Miah Persson' The Classical Review (UK) ‘For the unmistakable mark of Sir Colin Davis alone, and a performance under his direction of Haydn's extensive oratorio The Seasons that oozes operatic exuberance and nature-fed optimism at its broadest level, this latest LSO Live disc is genuinely attractive’ The Scotsman (UK) '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. Haydn produced a work of tumbling invention and touching humanity that transcends the bucolic text, and Davis directs with evident relish. Soloists Miah Persson, Jeremy Ovenden and Andrew Foster-Williams bring the changing seasons to vivid life and the LSO plays with typical grace and superb colour from the woodwinds' The Yorkshire Post (UK) 'after listening to this loving and joyous performance of this last mighty effort from the old composer's incomparable pen, you are likely to come away convinced that The Seasons is, in its very different way, another glorious musical celebration of the creation itself ... Colin Davis's credentials in Haydn are known to all ... he can do drama and energy, delicacy and charm, you name it' International Record Review (UK) ‘With the LSO on prime form ... he [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 like the final chorus of Spring ... this exhilarating and affectionate LSO performance can be recommended to anyone wanting The Seasons in German, performed with modern instruments on the grand scale we know Haydn relished’ Gramophone (UK) **** ‘Davis’s success with Haydn’s oratorio is not surprising. His orchestra plays a lean, clean sound, Davis managing a judicious balance between the strings and the nicely prominent brass … special kudos to the London Symphony horn section, which does bang-up work in the hunting chorus … overall, there’s character and spirit to the solo singing, as there is to the performance as a whole … Davis’s Die Jahreszeiten can compete with the best versions available’ Audiophile Audition (US) ‘If you know Colin Davis’s Philips recording from the late Sixties, you’ll know it’s considered something of a classic … [but this recording is] striking about how well paced it seems, decidedly brisk at times giving little away to some of its period instrument competitors. Yet Davis always knows when to broaden, when to mellow and how to allow Haydn’s vivid musical imagination to come through clearly. A fine trio of soloists … Soprano Miah Persson fresh as a daisy, Bass Andrew Foster-Williams who has the rock solid depths of tone that Haydn seeks … Jeremy Ovenden who brings a similar eloquence and expressivity to Haydn’ BBC Radio 3 CD Review, 20 August 2011 ‘This is a notable performance and the sound is admirable … Comparisons with other German-language recordings confirm Davis’s coherent and unified approach … Miah Persson's Hanne is fluent and colourful; she never over-dramatises. Her extensive aria in the 'Summer' section is beautifully fashioned … There is much joy in this LSO version … This must have been a special evening in the Barbican Hall and it is certainly a special recorded version of Haydn’s The Seasons’ ClassicalSource.com (UK) 'El anciano director (Sir Colin Davis) demuestra aquí que su conocimiento de Haydn y su entrega siguen (casi) intactos. (Sir Colin Davis – the veteran conductor – makes it clear that he has lost little, if anything, of his mastery and passion for Haydn.)' Ritmo (Spain)