2008 Tour Narrative
Once again, there was no better place for the music-loving birdwatcher (or birding music-lover) to spend twelve days in September than at the Haydn festival. In contrast to the unprecedentedly cold and wet weather in 2007, we were greeted this year by unprecedented heat (90° F). Appropriately, there was a Mediterranean bias to our first walk on the Hohe Wand, where our first birds were Crag Martins (a write-in for this trip and apparently the most northerly record for Austria) and Rock Buntings (according to BWP, rare and very local in Austria). These were accompanied by species more usually associated with these higher-altitude coniferous woods, our target birds for this walk: Nutcracker and Crested Tit. Higher still, later during our stay, the Schneeberg delivered the archetypal alpine bird—Alpine Chough—and the archetypal alpine flower—Edelweiss. But down at lake level one small patch of mud provided us with an equally memorable sighting: a Spotted Crake and a Water Rail walking together, with Wood and Green Sandpipers and a Bluethroat as supporting cast. Around Lake Neusiedl we saw twenty species of shorebirds, including Red-necked Phalarope, Pectoral Sandpiper, Black-winged Stilt, Avocet, Kentish Plover, Curlew Sandpiper, and Spotted Redshank—plus Purple Heron, Spoonbill, Red-crested Pochard, Black Tern, and Little, Yellow-legged, and Caspian Gulls. The woodlands provided Hawfinches, Short-toed Treecreepers, and lovely white-headed Long-tailed Tits, and the fields Great Gray and Red-backed Shrikes; Kingfishers seemed to be in evidence everywhere, and we were lucky to see the last Bee-eaters of the summer and the first White-fronted Goose of the winter. At Rust at least four White Storks still lingered. And at Hohenau, Black Storks and Black Kite performed for us while Black Woodpeckers obliged on a regular basis in the palace park, proving that black was as popular in the field as in the concert hall.
As for the concert hall, the sequence of music was as satisfying as the selection of birds: magnificent performances by Adam Fischer and the Austro-Hungarian Haydn Philharmonic of Haydn’s oratorio “Il ritorno di Tobia,” his symphonies 94, 100, and 96, his violin concerto, march for the Royal Society of Musicians, and overture “La fedelta premiata”; and Schubert’s overture in the Italian style and his rondo for violin and string orchestra. Equally inspiring was the English Concert (conductor Harry Bicket) playing Haydn symphonies 49 and 64, and Handel arias from Alcina and Ariodante sung by Vessalina Kasarova. The Basel Chamber Orchestra performed on two evenings: Haydn’s symphony 37 and Beethoven’s Pastoral, plus his violin concerto played by Viktoria Mullova, followed by two Haydn cello concertos played by Pieter Wispelwey and music by Rossini and Grieg. L’Orfeo Baroque Orchestra opted for Haydn’s symphonies 81 and 91, and Nuria Rial sang arias Haydn composed for Luigia Polzelli. Anima Eterna (conducted by Jos van Immerseel) overwhelmed us with a Haydn Te Deum and his Cecilia mass, and the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra played Haydn’s first and last symphonies and Mozart’s posthorn serenade no. 9. And the evening of songs by Hahn, Copland, Rosenthal, Tanguy, Poulenc, Haydn, Bacri, Satie, and Bernstein delivered by the French soprano Patricia Petibon was, well, extraordinary. Adding considerably to our understanding and enjoyment of the music were talks by Richard Wigmore and Adam Fischer.
History interludes during the heat of the day included tours of the Hungarian Versailles (the summer palace at Fentod), Forchtenstein castle, Haydn’s birthplace, and his house at Eisenstadt.
But above all was the perpetual happy ambience and the constant interaction with so many friends, which creates a “family wedding” feel around this most joyful of festivals.
- Bryan Bland
Updated: September 2008