Johann Adolf Hasse News
German composer, singer and teacher (1699-1783)
- tenor
- opera, church music, concerto, chamber music
- Holy Roman Empire
- composer, singer, music teacher, chapelmaster
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2024-03-19
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2023-12-18 19:35:00
Ascanio in Alba, Oper Frankfurt, 17 December 2023
[…] recitatives explaining and connecting just as they should. Just in case you were wondering: those two Mozart operas remaining for me to experience in the flesh are Lucio Silla and Il sogno di Scipione. So, if any enterprising opera companies within my reach would care to help out, I should be greatly obliged. And if a still more enterprising organisation were able to preface Ascanio with the first of the two Milanese wedding operas, Johann Adolph Hasse’s Metastasian Il Ruggiero, designed by the same team of brothers, we should at last have chance to discover how justified posterity’s verdict of definitive Mozartian victory actually was. For now, the verdict of Maria Theresa’s favourite composer, Hasse, stands: ‘This boy will render us all forgotten.’
2023-11-21 12:00:00
Gerald Fenech recommends Frieder Bernius' recording of 'L'Olimpiade' by Hasse. 'Frieder Bernius has a convincing way with Hasse.'
2023-11-17 19:46:00
First comes the Overture to Il Ruggiero, Johann Adolph Hasse’s – and Pietro Metastasio’s – final work from Orlando furioso. Originally commanded by Maria Theresa for the marriage of Maria Antonia/Marie Antoinette and the French Dauphin, the work's libretto was not completed in time, so it served instead for the 1771 marriage of the Empress's son Archduke Ferdinand Charles, Governor of the Duchy of Milan, to Maria Beatrice, daughter of Ercole (Hercules) III d’Este, Duke of Modena, and his estranged wife, Maria Teresa, Duchess of Massa and Princess of Carrara in her own right. As heiress to four further Italian territories, Maria Beatrice offered an advantageous match for the Habsburgs, and had originally been intended for one of Ferdinand's elder brothers, Archduke Peter Leopold (now Duke of Tuscany and later Emperor Leopold II). Ferdinand and Maria Beatrice had been engaged since childhood, the treaty thereby concluded recognising Ferdinand as Ercole's heir. […]
2023-09-09 09:10:00
Operatic arias & overtures by Frederick the Great's court composer, Graun, in the opera house built by the king's sister
[…] the floods of my bitter tears) began with a gently expressive and rather striking accompagnato, followed by a Vivaldi-esque aria featuring long vocal lines over a throbbing accompaniment. For all Graun's intentions to naturalness, his music still had plenty of display moments and this aria in particular suited the elegant style of Sabadus' voice. During the evening, I found myself returning to thoughts of music by Graun's contemporaries both Vivaldi (as in this aria) and Hasse.The overture to Cesare e Cleopatra came next. This opened in grand style with high-wire horn writing, alternating with lively fugal sections, the whole finishing with a perky triple-time movement with plenty of toe-tapping bounce. With its short alternating sections, strong character and toe-tapping moments, this felt like a crowd-pleaser.We then moved to Artaserse, the first of five arias setting texts by Metastasio, a librettist much favoured by Graun for his mature operas. 'Sulle sponde […]
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