Haydn: Creation-Chambord Sinfoni (1993) Rating: Starring: Director: Georges Bessonnet Category: Music, Special Interest Studio: Image Ent. Subtitles: [None] Length: 115 mins     THE CREATION was undoubtedly the first great work in the history of Haydn's music about which he is reported to have said: "I am taking my time because I want it to last."He spent two years relentlessly working on it. Based on a librettoin English originally intended for Handel, the text, which took its inspiration from the Bible and Million's Paradise Lost, was brought back from London by Baron Gottfried van Sweiten (1733-1803), who adapted it to German. The first performance was hosted in private by Prince Schwarzenberg on April 30, 1798.The first public performance was given shortly after on March 19, 1799, at the Burgheater in Vienna, Austria. The score was published in 1800 with, for the first time, the text in both German and English.The whole of Europe was captivated. Contemporaries saw in THE CREATION, apart from a work of genius, a proclamation of humanity in the likeness of God and also concerns of brotherhood and freemasonry already denounced seven years earlier in Mozart's Enchanted Flute. This work turned Haydn, as seen by his contemporaries, into a sort of secular High Priest!The three parts of the oratorio are devoted respectively to the elements, animals and man, and an earthly paradise.The soloist personifies the Archangels Gabriel, Uriel and Raphael in the first two parts and Adam and Eve in the third. Broadly speaking, each of the six days of the Creation of the World has a corresponding Biblical story, lyrical episode and song of praise either in the form of a recitativo, an aria or a vocal ensemble and finally a large choir.The descriptive episodes are typically musical paintings or, more often, musical symbolism.An important point here is that the "lyrics" come in as a commentary on the images created by the music just before.This work was to consecrate Haydn as one of the greatest "narrators" in the history of music. Chambord Sinfonietta- Founded in 1982 by Amaury du Closel, the Chambord Sinfonietta has given over 200 concert performances from a repertoire that includes both the classical period and contemporary works.Invited on a regular basis by festivals of international repute such as the Paris summer Festival and the Paris Marais Festival, the group has often gone on tour in France and abroad. Versailles Choir- The choir is made up of enthusiastic amateurs and leading professionals and has specialized in oratorio.You can hear the choir either on its own or with other ensembles from Paris on the occasion of numerous concerts both in France and Europe. Amaury du CloselFounder of the Camerata de Versailles, he served in 1984-85 as assistant to Jerome Kaltenbach, director of the Nancy Symphonic and Lyric Orchestra which he has since been invited to conduct on many occasions.In the course of his career, he worked with the Colonne Orchestra, the EuropeanCommunity Chamber Orchestra and the Emile Romagne Orchestra.He is a renowned composer and wrote some 15 works of which several-and, in particular, "Bluebeard Castle"-were command compositions sponsored by the government.Amaury du Closel frequently conducts the New Chamber Opera of Paris as well as the Chambord Sinfonietta, the Regional Orchestral Ensemble of Central France.