The Viennese audience in the old Burgtheater celebrated the composer with “Papa Haydn” shouts. But Joseph Haydn’s oratorio “The Creation” has nothing cozy and old-fashioned about it, but is a piece full of gathered, agile strength, compositional suppleness and a commitment to this world, to life here and now without piety and incense. After the indefinable, aimlessly meandering dark modulation fog of the beginning of the chaos, when the word “light” hits the orchestra, choir and audience, a beam of fortissimo flashes so glaring that its fiery shine illuminates all three parts of the work. “The Creation” is rightly regarded as an enlightening piece, a novel oratorio beyond the baroque of Handel. The lyricist Baron van Swieten, and with him Joseph Haydn, wanted the celebration of creation with the creation of man as the destination, completely without the fall of man, original sin and guilt. “And god saw, that it was good.”
If you make the piece big and spacious, colorful and intense, soulful, varied in its instrumental variety, but always in control, like on this Tuesday evening in the Nuremberg State Opera by the State Philharmonic Orchestra there, the choir of the State Theater Nuremberg ( Rehearsal by Tarmo Vaask), five expressive soloists under the inspiring direction of Joana Mallwitz, the general music director in Nuremberg, then one does not only believe in the motto “new beginning” for this evening, but is immediately infected by Haydn’s energetic confidence.
Before the concert began, Mallwitz and the state director Jens-Daniel Herzog stepped on the stage and let out a few very understandable sighs of relief that you could finally play again, even if due to the well-known Bavarian corona requirements, a much reduced audience and that you could play hope happier 2022 for music, theater and art. In addition, Herzog and the audience enthusiastically welcomed the conductor, who had returned from maternity leave, who also announced a number of projects for the near future, including the presentation of the newly founded Young State Philharmonic.
Every appearance by the young Maestra Mallwitz turns into a kind of farewell
The fact that Mallwitz will only stay in Nuremberg until the end of the 2022/23 season and then move to Berlin to join the concert hall orchestra there makes every appearance by the young maestra in Nuremberg a kind of farewell. In any case, the orchestra, choir and the excellent soloists – Andromahi Raptis as the glittering soprano archangel Gabriel, Martin Platz as the tenor-bright sounding Uriel, Jochen Kupfer as the robust, never-roaring bass Raphael, later Samuel Hasselhorn (Adam), who delighted in creation and himself and Julia Grüter (Eva) – offered their best in fresh attention and aural vigilance, which Joana Mallwitz also demanded of them. However, this never happened imperiously or even intimidating, but always animating, encouraging and aimed at an inspiring symphonic togetherness.
Conducting can be exhausted in dry tactics and commitment and then sounds like it, because the respective gesture gives impetus, be it weak, indistinct or awkward. Joana Mallwitz, on the other hand, is able to use the length of her arms and hands wonderfully lively and non-violently and reach far into the orchestra and up to the choir, but also knows how to draw attention to the small note values in a filigree manner and knows the clarity of all dampening gestures for piani and Pianissimi. It is striking how she never interrupts the flow of her movements or leaves it unmotivated. In addition, there is a “speaking” facial expression that is truly turned towards the musicians. The orchestra, choir and soloists in Nuremberg responded to such abilities for musical communication from a symphonic spirit with happy devotion and, in the best sense of the word, controlled joy in playing.
Haydn’s oratorio demands not only size, tonal power and C major shine, but also a special richness of character in the instrumental colors in terms of sound narration. Some believe that they have to dismiss this as cheap tone painting when the “whales” stir in the deepest double bass, the nightingale strikes or the rustle of the worm can be heard. But with Haydn, it is not the paleness of the thought that prevails, but the lively diversity of forms in the created world, which today is threatened with immediate disappearance. In this respect, such successful performances of “Creation” as here in Nuremberg always act as an appeal to fight anew to preserve it.