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NO.22 __ALLA RUSTICA
Kammerorchester Basel
Alexander Melnikov, fortepiano
Giovanni Antonini, conductor
Karl-Heinz Ott und Theresia Walser, writer
Raymond Depardon, photographer
Joseph Haydn: Symphonies No.71, 74, 75 and piano concerto No.11 in D major
Concerts:
5 June 2025, Basel Don Bosco (Tickets)
11 June 2025, Vienna Musikverein (Tickets)
Among the Viennese Classical composers, Joseph Haydn is generally regarded as the one who remained closest to folk music. Not only was he born into a village society; his early development was characterised by domestic music-making in that milieu. Haydn also had a clear locational advantage over many of his contemporaries: the residences of Prince Nicolaus I Esterházy, his longstanding employer, were mostly located in rural areas, which meant that Haydn was confronted at every turn both with the living environment of the “common people” and with forms of musical expression from a wide variety of ethnic backgrounds. The works in our Haydn2032 concert for the 2024/25 season offer a particularly rich illustration of the down-to-earth nature of their composer’s “world view”: the symphonies nos. 71, 74 and 75, along with the keyboard concerto rounded off by the famous Rondo all’ungarese – all of them written around 1780.
Program
Joseph Haydn (1732–1809): Symphony No. 71 in B flat major Hob. I:71 (1778/1779)
Adagio – Allegro con brio / Adagio / Menuet– Trio / Finale. Vivace
SYMPHONY NO.71 B FLAT MAJOR HOB. I:71 (1778/1779)
Period of composition: before 1780 [1778/1779]
Joseph Haydn (1732–1809): Keyboard Concerto No. 11 in D major, HOB. XVIII:11 (1779/1780?) (with the "Rondo all'ungarese")
Vivace – Un poco adagio – Rondo all’U ngarese. Allegro assai
Joseph Haydn (1732–1809): Symphony No. 74 in E flat major Hob. I:74 (1780)
Vivace assai / Adagio / Menuet. Allegretto – Trio / Finale. Allegro assai
SYMPHONY NO.74 E FLAT MAJOR HOB. I:74 (1780)
Period of composition: before 22.08.1781 [1780]
Joseph Haydn (1732–1809): Symphony No. 75 in D major Hob. I:75 (1779)
Grave – Presto / Poco adagio / Menuet. Allegretto – Trio / Finale. Vivace
SYMPHONY NO.75 D MAJOR HOB: I:75 (1779)
Period of composition: before 1781 [End 1779]
Line-up
Kammerorchester Basel
Alexander Melnikov, fortepiano
Giovanni Antonini, Dirigent
Next concerts
Basel,
Thursday, 5 June 2025, 7.30 pm
Haydn reading and lounge at the Heinz Holliger Auditorium, Don Bosco Basel
6.15 pm: Presentation of the book "HAYDN! Eine literarische Sinfonie" by Alain Claude Sulzer, followed by the reading with Karl-Heinz Ott and Theresia Walser
Doors open at 6.00 pm (no entry between book presentation and reading)
Seating is limited to 50 people. Admission only with concert ticket.
Concert at the Paul Sacher Saal, Don Bosco Basel:
7.30 pm: concert
Haydn soup during interval
The concert will be livestreamed on our Haydn2032 YouTube Channel (Informationen will follow).
- Advance Ticket booking
Tickets are available at kammerorchesterbasel.ch and at Bider & Tanner, Ihr Kulturhaus in Basel, +41 (0)61 206 999 6, (Mon – Sat 9 am – 2 pm)
Vienna,
Wednesday, 11 June 2025, 7.30 pm
Vienna Musikverein, grosser Saal
Pre-concert talk: 6.30 pm, Steinerner Saal / Horst Haschek Auditorium
- Advance ticket booking
Tickets are available at musikverein.at / +43 1 5058190
Biographies
Orchestra
Basel Chamber Orchestra
Orchestra
The Basel Chamber Orchestra is deeply rooted in the city of Basel - with its two subscription series in the Stadtcasino Basel as well as its own rehearsal and performance venue, Don Bosco Basel. With world tours and more than 60 concerts per season, the Basel Chamber Orchestra is a popular guest at international festivals and in Europe’s most important concert halls.
As the first orchestra to be awarded the Swiss Music Prize in 2019, the Basel Chamber Orchestra stands out for its excellence and diversity as well as for its depth and consistency. Its interpretations are deeply immersed into the relevant thematic and compositional worlds: in the past with the "Basel Beethoven" or with Heinz Holliger and our "Schubert Cycle". Or as with the long-term project Haydn2032, the study and performance of all Joseph Haydn's symphonies up to the year 2032 under the direction of principal guest conductor Giovanni Antonini and together with the Ensemble Il Giardino Armonico. From the current season onwards, the Basel Chamber Orchestra has decided to devote itself to all the symphonies of Felix Mendelssohn under the direction of the early music specialist Philippe Herreweghe.
The Basel Chamber Orchestra frequently collaborates with selected soloists such as Maria João Pires, Jan Lisiecki, Isabelle Faust and Christian Gerhaher. The Basel Chamber Orchestra presents its broad repertoire under the artistic direction of the first violins and the baton of selected conductors such as Heinz Holliger, René Jacobs and Pierre Bleuse.
The concert programmes are as diverse as the 47 musicians and range from early music on historical instruments to contemporary music and historically informed interpretations.
An important element of the work is the future-oriented education programs in large-scale participatory projects involving creative exchange with children and young people.
The creative work of the Basel Chamber Orchestra is documented by an extensive and award-winning discography.
The Clariant Foundation has been the presenting sponsor of the Basel Chamber Orchestra since 2019.
Conductor
Giovanni Antonini
Conductor
Born in Milan, Giovanni studied at the Civica Scuola di Musica and at the Centre de Musique Ancienne in Geneva. He is a founder member of the Baroque ensemble “Il Giardino Armonico”, which he has led since 1989. With this ensemble, he has appeared as conductor and soloist on the recorder and Baroque transverse flute in Europe, United States, Canada, South America, Australia, Japan and Malaysia. He is Artistic Director of Wratislavia Cantans Festival in Poland and Principal Guest Conductor of Mozarteum Orchester and Kammerorchester Basel.
He has performed with many prestigious artists including Cecilia Bartoli, Kristian Bezuidenhout, Giuliano Carmignola, Isabelle Faust, Sol Gabetta, Sumi Jo, Viktoria Mullova, Katia and Marielle Labèque, Emmanuel Pahud and Giovanni Sollima. Renowned for his refined and innovative interpretation of the classical and baroque repertoire, Antonini is also a regular guest with Berliner Philharmoniker, Concertgebouworkest, Tonhalle Orchester, Mozarteum Orchester, Leipzig Gewandhausorchester, London Symphony Orchestra and Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
His opera productions have included Handel’s Giulio Cesare and Bellini’s Norma with Cecilia Bartoli at Salzburg Festival. In 2018 he conducted Orlando at Theater an der Wien and returned to Opernhaus Zurich for Idomeneo. In the 21/22 season he will guest conduct the Konzerthaus Orchester Berlin, Stavanger Symphony, Anima Eterna Bruges and the Symphonieorchester de Bayerischer Rundfunks. He will also direct Cavalieri’s opera Rappresentatione di Anima, et di Corpo for Theatre an der Wien and a ballet production of Haydn’s Die Jahreszeiten for Wiener Staatsballett with the Wiener Philharmoniker.
With Il Giardino Armonico, Giovanni has recorded numerous CDs of instrumental works by Vivaldi, J.S. Bach (Brandenburg Concertos), Biber and Locke for Teldec. With Naïve he recorded Vivaldi’s opera Ottone in Villa, and, with Il Giardino Armonico for Decca, has recorded Alleluia with Julia Lezhneva and La morte della Ragione, collections of sixteenth and seventeenth century instrumental music. With Kammerorchester Basel he has recorded the complete Beethoven Symphonies for Sony Classical and a disc of flute concertos with Emmanuel Pahud entitled Revolution for Warner Classics. In 2013 he conducted a recording of Bellini’s Norma for Decca in collaboration with Orchestra La Scintilla.
Antonini is artistic director of the Haydn 2032 project, created to realise a vision to record and perform with Il Giardino Armonico and Kammerorchester Basel, the complete symphonies of Joseph Haydn by the 300th anniversary of the composer’s birth. The first 12 volumes have been released on the Alpha Classics label with two further volumes planned for release every year.
© Raymond Depardon / Magnum Photos
Information will follow soon.