Recorded in 1991 -- and not a clue is given in the booklet about the 17-year lag between the recording and its release in 2008 -- this version of Haydn's oratorio Die Jahreszeiten (The Seasons) gave a good indication of the direction in which historical-performance veteran Roger Norrington's career would move over the next decade or so. The Chamber Orchestra of Europe did not use period instruments, but Norrington, here and elsewhere, has transferred the insights gleaned from historically oriented performances to modern ...
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Recorded in 1991 -- and not a clue is given in the booklet about the 17-year lag between the recording and its release in 2008 -- this version of Haydn's oratorio Die Jahreszeiten (The Seasons) gave a good indication of the direction in which historical-performance veteran Roger Norrington's career would move over the next decade or so. The Chamber Orchestra of Europe did not use period instruments, but Norrington, here and elsewhere, has transferred the insights gleaned from historically oriented performances to modern-instrument contexts. He often conducted Die Jahreszeiten, in both its German and English versions, during this period, and he obviously knew the score completely. There is a case to be made for using a larger group of musicians than the one that appears here; contemporary accounts speak of hundreds of musicians. But the youthful Chamber Orchestra of Europe beautifully executes Norrington's ideas. The most noticeable feature is the sharp-edged, almost planar sound coming from the string...
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