Orchestre de Paris / Haydn

Prolix, incredibly inventive, always surprising, Haydn seems to have both invented and surpassed the "classical style". The proof is in this contrasting program, to which a creation by Helen Grime adds a touch of moving homage.

Composed in 1786, Symphony no. 82 belongsto the cycle of six " Parisiennes ". Generally martial in character, with trumpets and timpani, it is characterized by pre-Beethovenian dramatic flashes and by the "rustic" theme of its Finale, reputed to imitate the movements of a bear trying to dance. Also "military", with its large alla turca percussion section, Symphony no. 100 evokes the charge, the clash of arms and sublimates the frightening side of battle, not without the surprise effects so dear to Haydn.

The mood becomes more spiritual with the superb motet Insanae et vanae curae, for which the composer, evoking the mad and vain anguish that assails the heart of the Christian, modernizes one of the choruses from his oratorio Il ritorno di Tobia. A fitting tribute to the man Mozart called "Papa Haydn" is paid by Scottish composer and oboist Helen Grime, with a work commissioned twice by the Orchestre de Paris and the Hamburg Philharmonic Orchestra.