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Franz Joseph Haydn: Operas
built 640 days ago
The son of a wheelwright and a local landowner's cook, Haydn had such a fine voice that at the age of five he entered the Choir School of St Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna. His ethereal treble tones lasted until he was 16, a fact noticed by the Habsburg Empress, Maria Theresa, who uttered her famous criticism: "That boy doesn't sing, he crows!" The choirmaster suggested Haydn become a castrato, but his father objected and the operation never went ahead, then Haydn's voice broke the following year. He left the choir in memorable fashion - snipping off the pigtail of one his fellow choirboys - and was publicly caned.
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Haydn's duties as Vice-Kapellmeister were numerous and demanding. But within a year Prince Paul had died and was succeeded by his brother Nikolaus. In 1766 he promoted Haydn to Kapellmeister, and at Esterhaza started to build a new palace, modeled on Versailles, with a marionette theatre and a 400 seat opera house as magnificent as it was isolated.
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The new Prince... was not fond of instrumental music, so Haydn began to write a series of Masses. These incorporated all his knowledge of opera and symphonies. Each had a theme and a name: the Missa in Tempore Belli (Mass in time of war, 1796); Heiligmesse (Holy Mass, 1796); Missa in angustiis (Nelson Mass, 1798);
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