Haydn: The Creation (Bernstein)

Haydn’s Creation the culmination of his life’s work in a legendary 1986 performance conducted by Leonard Bernstein in the exquisite Baroque splendor of the Benedictine Abbey of Ottobeuren Bavaria now available on DVD for the first time. This spectacular performance also includes Bernstein’s spoken introduction to the performance —always an invaluable addition to any concert. This work considered by many to be Haydn’s masterpiece depicts the creation of the world as inspired by the texts of Genesis the Book of Psalms and Milton’s Paradise Lost. Though deeply religious in conception the oratorio gives a physical sense of the immensity of nature and the world’s creation. “The Creation gives us time to remember—and rejoice in— the purity and grace and fortitude of Nature to restore our souls to recover our moral strength and to rediscover our power to praise”—Leonard Bernstein