For English-speaking listeners, and I suspect Germans as well, this set is problematic. Die Feuerbrunst is a “Hanswurst” comedy, sort of the German version of “Punch and Judy”, set by Haydn as a marionette Singspiel. The dialog is missing, and we have no idea what the exact plot was, but the music, which is what matters, is complete–some 90 minutes in all. Andreas Spering and his team have come up with a supposedly cute story, which I couldn’t care less about and tried my best not to pay any attention to. The dialog is spoken very loudly by actors rather than by the actual singers. This in turn necessitated rearranging the order of a couple of numbers, though it hardly matters, and all of this takes place within the context of a so-called “historically informed” performance. Does this make any sense to you at all?
Still, I do want to recommend this disc for the music, which is absolutely delightful. It was composed around 1776, during the only two years in which Haydn had clarinets in the Esterhaza orchestra, and the scoring is full of characterful touches. Stylistically, the work’s “popular” idiom anticipates Mozart’s Magic Flute, and the singing is very good. Baritone Otto Katzameier, who sings Hanswurst, tends to shout and overact a bit, but tenor Andreas Karasiak is excellent, as are the other vocalists. Spering leads a lively, vital interpretation but the entire concept, while probably great fun in person, doesn’t work very well on disc, and the engineers pick up a lot of minor ambient and performance noises (this is a live recording). Nevertheless, Haydn completists may want to give this a shot until something better comes along.
