Enregistré		Grande Salle, Musikverein, Vienna (Austria) - 9-11 ottobre 2020
	live / studio		live
	Direction artitstique		Nicolas Bartholomée
	Prise de son		Nicolas Bartholomée & Franck Jaffrès
	Montage, mixage, mastering		Franck Jaffrès
	Recording system		In 24-bit/96kHz. Microphones DPA 4041 & Schoeps. Recorded and edited using Merging Technologies Pyramix.
	Prima Edizione CD		Aparté - AP247 - 1 CD - 55' 00" - (p) & (c) 2021 - DDD
	Note		Recorded by Little Tribeca. Cover: Detail of the etching Schubert, sitting underneath a tree, 1997, by Martha Griebler (1948-2006) by courtesy of the Estate of Martha Griebler, represented by Matthias Griebler.

Concentus Musicus Wien continues its exploration of works of the Classical and pre-Romantic periods as envisioned by Nikolaus Harnoncourt. Stefan Gottfried conducts Schubert’s Symphony no. 5, written in 1816 at the age of 19, and the seventh of Haydn’s 12 London symphonies, no. 99, written in 1793. The former shows the melodic inventiveness and admirable mastery of form of a young composer, heir to the giant Haydn. Recorded live at the famous Musikverein in Vienna, this concert immortalises yet again the skill and the exceptional sound quality of this renowned progenitor of historically informed performance, which continues to perpetuate the work of its visionary founder. ···················· The Concentus Musicus was founded in 1953, at a time when performance on period instruments was an entirely new concept. The idea, the "spirit" behind Harnoncourt and the Concentus I\/lusicus' approach was, and still is, a constant desire to find out exactly what the composer wanted, what sound he had in his ear when composing, and what was natural for him and therefore did not need to be written down. To this end, one has to study the manuscripts carefully, get to know and understand the sound and technique of early instruments, and explore the original sources on performance practice. But it is just as important to forget all intellectual concerns when playing, and to create music out of pure emotion, as if it were completely new and had never existed. This dialectical relationship between intellect and emotionality, thinking and feeling, is needed to do justice to music and art in general. Harnoncourt had also begun to tackle Franz Schubert's music with the Concentus Musicus. We took a further step in this direction in 2019, with the recording of Schubert's Unfinished Symphony, our first by this composer. This journey, undertaken with Aparté, was totally new for us. lt was a wonderful experience to capture the magic of Schubert's music in the unique acoustics of \/ienna’s Große Musikvereinsaal. The artistic and human resonance between Aparté and the Concentus has encouraged us to imagine many joint projects: we naturally feel a great connection to Viennese music of the classical and romantic periods, but we are still very much attracted to the Baroque sound world. This second recording is therefore another step on the path we are following, and we hope that it reflects the very special spirit of this orchestra. Stefan Gottfried Interview by Bertrand Dermoncourt Franz Schubert, Symphony no.5 · Joseph Haydn, Symphony no.99 In an act of homage to Viennese classicism, the celebrated ensemble Concentus Musicus of Vienna is conducted by Stefan Gottfried, in a programme combining the highly energetic, colourful Symphony Hob. I:99 by Joseph Haydn - one of his 'London Symphonies' - with the Symphony No. 5 by the young Schubert, a formally perfect masterpiece containing a wealth of melodies, and overflowing with youthful vigour. This unusual coupling - rather an exception in the recorded repertoire of these two composers - nevertheless has the advantage of highlighting certain characteristic traits of these symphonies, both in their similarities and in their differences. We more often see Schubert's Fifth Symphony coupled with Mozart’s Symphony No. 40, which it approaches both in style and in tonality (Schubert's chosen key of B flat being the relative major of the G minor key of Mozart’s 40th Symphony), as well as in aesthetic approach, even though Mozart's influence on the young Schubert is not always obvious (1). Franz Schubert was still only nineteen when he completed the Fifth Symphony (D.485) in Vienna in October 1816. lt was the last of a whole spate of works composed during the previous three years by the prolific teenager. (2) He was at a turning point, a halfway milestone along his symphonic road between the classical style and full-blown romanticism. The imprint of classicism on Schubert's writing is evident here: its restrained dimensions, formal simplicity, adherence to the accustomed four-movement structure (including a minuet), the use of sophisticated harmonic progressions, and the modest orchestral forces (strings, a flute, two oboes, two bassoons and two horns - no clarinets, trumpets or drums) all combine to make the work sound almost like a piece of chamber music. The world would have to wait until 1822 and 1825 for his major symphonies: No, 7 the 'Unfinished’, and No. 8, the 'Great' C major Symphony. With a vivacity that is breathtakingly moving, yet also precise and perfectly-balanced, the Allegro first movement in the classical sonata form of exposition, development and recapitulation opens with a brief three-bar introduction, then sets out its two themes: the first joyful and confidently combative, the second more overtly melodic. Schubert displays great mastery in the dialogues he creates between the timbres of different instrumental groups (mainly between woodwinds and strings). The second movement, a 6/8 Andante con moto in E flat major, is tenderly romantic, with its middle section's numerous modulations and chromaticisms underpinned by a bass ostinato. As mentioned earlier, the Minuet in G minor (with its Trio in G major) is particularly akin to the Mozartian model - it has the same structure, the same rhythmic character even the same harmonic framework; while the incredible vitality of the finale, an Allegro vivace in sonata form, impulsively proclaims Schubert's musical maturity through its energy and wide-ranging palette of sounds: the manifest talents of a young composer, though one who has only twelve years more to live. On the death of Nikolaus l, Prince Esterházy in 1790, Joseph Haydn, who had been in the service of this distinguished family of the Hungarian nobility as musician and music director since 1761 - i.e. for nearly thirty years - undertook the first major journey of his life so far. At the age of fifty-eight, the composer travelled to London at the invitation of the musician and concert promoter Johann Peter Salomon, who had been urging him to visit for several years. His first stay in London in 1791-2 and a second visit in 1794-5 finally provided Haydn with the experience of direct contact with a public concert audience. Having spent so many years at the Esterházy court, in London he finally discovered the outside world, and experienced a sense of emancipation. Having been keenly anticipated, his arrival caused a sensation: he was enthusiastically received, the press was warm in its praise for him, and his works (not only his symphonies) were widely performed, enjoying enormous success. Although it is one of the twelve 'London symphonies' performed at his concerts there (in two groups, Nos. 93-98, and 99-104), the Symphony No. 99 in E flat major was actually composed not in the English capital, but between Haydn's two journeys to England in 1793 in Vienna (or perhaps, as some German-language sources claim, in Eisenstadt), a period when for six months he taught counterpoint to a twenty-two-year-old musician - a certain Ludwig van Beethoven. To inaugurate the second set of Haydn's London concerts, this symphony was first performed at the Hanover Square Rooms, the city's main concert hall, on 10 February 1794. After a slow introduction, the generously-proportioned and expressive first movement sets out two contrasting themes that are developed and then restated in the apotheosis of the final section. The Adagio that follows is one of the composer's finest slow movements, toying playfully with sonorities, the end of the first thematic phrase being echoed by the flutes and oboes, with a superb passage for solo winds (flutes, oboes and clarinets) and even a brass fanfare in the final bars. The various themes heard in the exposition are developed with a sense of high drama, then restated in a completely new orchestration. The exultant, turbulent Minuet in E flat is set off against the central Trio in C major, which hasthe rather more discreet elegance of a typical Viennese waltz. The work ends with a Vivace in the sonata rondo form which Haydn frequently favoured - this one having a refrain with three episodes. (The entire sketches for this movement have been found, containing around thirty different thematic ideas, all numbered.) The movements three verses correspond to the three main parts of a sonata structure; an exposition, a development of great contrapuntal density with a fugato section (another typical Haydn fingerprint) and a recapitulation, Here too, Haydn unfurls brilliant passages dominated by the winds, particularly the woodwinds, before the final flourish. This symphony shows a certain relationship with Mozart. Significantly enough, when Haydn composed it his friend Mozart's death was still quite recent; and although in many respects the differences in style of the two composers are undeniable, Haydn's 99th has a remarkably close proximity to the 'Mozart sound', beginning with Haydn's inclusion of the clarinet. This is the first of Haydn's symphonies to use its bright timbre, and here the clarinet is heard in company with the trumpets and drums that are themselves sufficiently rare in Haydn’s symphonies to be worth noting. These three instruments are notably absent from Schubert's Symphony No. 5, so with this coupling the Concentus Musicus Wien is drawing attention to the two contrasting choices of composers breaking with their usual custom: Schubert dispensing with three typical instruments of the symphonic orchestral line-up that Haydn - exceptionally for him - here decides to use. (3) On the other hand, Haydn's opening Adagio introduction, with its dramatic ending on the dominant of C minor preceded by enharmonically chromatic modulations, is a definite reminder of Mozart's 40th Symphony - as is the lyric vein cultivated by Haydn, particularly in his second movement. Was this work then perhaps an elegiac homage to his lamented young friend? Yet Mozart is not the only point of connection between the symphonies of Haydn and those of Schubert. By the year 1816, Schubert was already extremely familiar with this grand symphonic repertoire: as a scholarship boy (from 1808 to 1813) of the prestigious Stadtkonvikt school in Vienna he had played in the college orchestra that regularly performed the symphonies of both Mozart and Haydn. Given that background, the similarities between the two works in this recording emerge more clearly: the chromaticism so notably evident in the slow movements of both symphonies (also in the first movement of the Schubert) and the rich string textures of both opening movements are underpinned in each case by syncopations in the internal voices. ln a more allusive way, the playfulness of Schubert's finale recalls the first movement of the elder composer's Symphony No. 99, while its freshness and directness of expression evokes the character of Haydn's sonata rondo finales, such as that of the 99th. Conversely, it is tempting to hear echoes in Haydn of what is to become a marked stylistic trait in Schubert: the brusque change from major to minor (or vice versa, the sudden 'dramatic major key' being almost more tragic than the minor). ln this light the central and final sections ot Haydn's second movement are particularly evocative. Haydn's 99th is considered one of his most deeply expressive symphonies: despite being always elegant and witty, it has many dramatic breakthrough moments which are all the more poignant because of their contrast.The parallels between Haydn and Schubert manifested by this recording are a rare opportunity to highlight their points of similarity, less in terms of a proximity of technique than in their undeniably strong expressive links, and their shared mode of feeling. Gabrielle Oliveira Guyon (1) Actually Schubert was highly influenced by Mozart's music, particularly by his 40th Symphony. There are not only the obvious similarities (particularly in the Minuets of both symphonies as well as the first movement’s opening, its tempo and general thematic plan), but also the many influences of phrase structure, chromaticism, and melodic style. These affinities seem even more real now than they did in 1816, the year Schubert composed this Symphony, writing in his journal: 'Today will remain with me for the rest of my life, a clear, brilliant, beautiful day. How sweetly through the distance of memory sound the enchanted notes of Mozart's music! [...] These exquisite impressions that neither time nor circumstance can erase, remain in our soul and have a salutary effect on our very existence. [...] Mozart, immortal Mozart, how many, how infinitely many benign impressions of a brighter, better life do you imprint in our souls!' [* voir note 1A, du Trad] (2) From this period we have Schubert works of every genre, including around two hundred Lieder, two settings of the Stabat Mater, several piano sonatas and four Masses. (3) ln the Haydn period, the clarinet was not yet a standard instrument of the symphony orchestra, and did not become so until Beethoven.