JOSEPH HAYDN: Songs & Arias [CD de audio] Emma Kirkby (soprano), Marcia Hadjimarkos (fortepiano) and Haydn

This is the Haydn of the last great maturity that soprano Emma Kirkby gives us, with a handful of totally unknown English lieder, the devil knows why. The listener could easily attribute them to the young Schubert, beginning with The Wanderer (predestined title) or The Song of the Spirit, whose dark chromatic pilgrimages are nothing, but absolutely nothing, classical. Inc guy, yet a visionary and precursor too often relegated to the rank of friendly grandfather in a wig. Two works in particular stand out, Arianna to Naxos and The Battle of Abukir, which follow the format of the dramatic cantata, with overture, recitative and air, a bit like Mozart's great concert airs. The Battle tells of Nelson's victory at Abukir against the French fleet... Emma Kirkby here is accompanied by a fortepiano copy of a late 18th century Anton Walter, one of Mozart's favorite makers: wide, rich, crystal-clear sound in the highs, clear and loud in the lows, singing in the middle. Here there are works to discover without delay, which will allow the listener to form a very different image of Haydn than the one we normally have.