Life is a Dream

"Anna Leese's performances of a splendid selection of Haydn's song repertoire are outstanding. In 'The Wanderer', 'Der Gleichsinn' and 'Fidelity', she sings with a flair and brilliance that matches the great interpreters of the past. The nineteen tracks are well chosen and show both Haydn's frivolity and his more reflective side, and with excellent accompaniment from Alisdair Hogarth and crystal-clear sound, life is indeed a dream, as the CD title suggests."
-MUSICALCRITICISM

In celebration of the Haydn year, MSM brings together two rising stars of the classical music world: the New Zealand soprano, Anna Leese, and the Danish tenor, Peter Lodahl. The album combines selections from Joseph Haydn's English and German love songs with the accompaniment from a young and talented pianist, Alisdair Hogarth.

Haydn wrote several series of songs at the height of his career, but they're all too rarely heard nowadays. The first set of twelve Lieder was published in 1781 and was followed up in 1784 with another twelve. Haydn specified that three of them should be replaced with more 'tender' and 'sad' texts, in order to create more contrasts with the others, the majority of which were 'merry'.

Then in 1794-5, the composer turned to writing two sets of English canzonettas, several of which have become popular for recital programmes. The composer's friend, Anne Hunter, wrote the verses for the first six songs, and was responsible for selecting texts by the likes of Shakespeare and Metastasio for the others.

Leese and Lodahl present a combination of these two series of songs, with the English repertoire represented by items such as 'Content', 'The Wanderer', 'Piercing Eyes' and 'Fidelity' and the German by 'Cupido', 'Das Leben ist ein Traum' and 'Liebeslied'. With nineteen tracks, it's a great collection with which to celebrate the bicentenary of the composer's death.