Performance on 3 - Haydn Concerts - The Seasons

Presented by Catherine Bott. Olari Elts conducts the Scottish Chamber Orchestra in a performance of Haydn's oratorio The Seasons, considered to be the composer's last important work, depicting rural life through the four seasons of the year. It touches on the labours, lovemaking, hardships and celebrations of an unspecified community of peasants, who are given rousing choral passages, including a celebration of wine and a hunting chorus. The more solemn Ode to Toil caused Haydn to remark that, though he had been industrious all his life, he had never before been called upon to write music in praise of industry. Haydn: The Seasons Elizabeth Watts (soprano) John Mark Ainsley (tenor) Roderick Williams (baritone) Scottish Chamber Orchestra Olari Elts (conductor).