What an atmospheric setting for Haydn and Mozart! The picturesque lakeside backdrop, the impressive 18th-century hall crammed to the gunwales with eager music lovers, an idyllic English summer evening, sun streaming in through the windows, and then Haydn’s masterly London symphonies filling the air. This must be just the kind of place Haydn visited during his UK sojourn in the 1790s.
And as the Military symphony reached its emphatic conclusion, the appearance of two splendidly be-costumed young Hungarian sopranos, Judit Felszeghy and László Blaskovics, who with their stunning 18th-century attire brought perfectly to life the opulent imperial Hapsburg world that Mozart inhabited.
But it wasn’t just the costumes. Soaring effortlessly through the coloratura and bel canto demands of Mozart’s music, their voices seemed to capture exactly the spirit of his elegant writing, strong and powerful but infinitely euphonious, as the two soprano voices, man and woman, melded seamlessly together. Needless to say they drew huge applause from all present.
John and Jacqueline Blunt kindly invited us to Staunton Harold Hall. Jacqueline Blunt is also President of Ashby Macmillan Cancer Support: through the generosity of the audience, a collection at the end of the evening raised £500 for this worthwhile cause. Thank you everyone!
