Dated 1795, the London Symphony was the last symphony Joseph Haydn wrote in the English capital. But there is a small curiosity behind the title. In the final movement, a melody can be heard with roots in a traditional Croatian song that Haydn carried in his memory, but which also resembled the characteristic calls of street vendors in London announcing hot pies and fresh fish. It may therefore have been a tribute to the very generous reception his music enjoyed during several years in that city.
To these “resonances” are added the orchestral overture of the opera with which Mozart enchanted the city of Vienna in 1782, the love serenade that Richard Wagner dedicated to Cosima Liszt on her birthday, and the symphony that in 1934 definitively launched the career of the then young English composer Benjamin Britten.
Sinfonia Londres
Orquestra Académica Metropolitana
W. A. Mozart Overture from the opera The Abduction from the Seraglio
B. Britten Simple Symphony
R. Wagner Siegfried Idyll
J. Haydn Symphony No. 104, London
Jean-Marc Burfin and/or Students from the ANSO Conducting Course musical direction
