‘Tis Nature’s Voice | Haydn’s The Seasons

Haydn’s life-affirming oratorio brought vividly to life with striking new visuals

Haydn’s life-affirming oratorio of nature, humanity and the eternal cycle of the year will be conducted by AAM Music Director Laurence Cummings and brought vividly to life with striking new visuals in a co-production with The Barbican.

‘How refreshing to the senses! How reviving to the heart!’ Haydn’s The Seasons embraces the whole of nature, brimming with all the generosity, humour and uninhibited humanity that only he could supply. There are storms and sunrises, drunken farmers and a ploughman whistling an oddly familiar tune: in short, it’s exactly what you’d expect from a sequel to The Creation.

And if you heard Laurence Cummings conduct The Creation last year, you’ll have some idea of what to expect – including specially-commissioned digital projections from Nina Dunn, designed to pull the imagination into Haydn’s creative world. Add a world-beating team of soloists, plus some of the best tunes Haydn ever wrote, and this should be a magnificent launch for ‘Tis nature’s voice: AAM’s season-long musical exploration of the environment and our place within it.