JOSEPH HAYDN (1732-1809): Philemon und Baucis, Hob.XXIXa:1, 1a, XXIXb:2.

Description: What's left of this 1773 puppet play, produced for the visit of Empress Maria Theresia to Esterházy is the overture to the prologue, the 30-second entrance of the goddess Diana (seven more gods and the thunderous arrival of Jupiter are lost) and practically all of the middle part - the actual puppet opera telling the mythological tale of Jupiter disguised as a beggar and being treated to hospitality by the impoverished couple of the title (the epilogue, which addresses the empress, is also lost). Five arias, two choruses and a duet, of a sparkling enough quality to make us regret all the more that the rest didn't survive. German-English libretto. Manuel Warwitz, Bernhard Bechtold (tenors), Nathalie Vinzent (mezzo), Ulrike Hofbauer (soprano), Salzburg Chamber Choir, Salzburger Hofmusik; Wolfgang Brunner.