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Minnesota Chorale and Minnesota Orchestra | © Courtney Perry

Haydn’s The Creation

Thu Mar 30 — Sat Apr 1, 2023

Orchestra Hall

~2 hrs, including intermission

More than two decades have passed since English conductor Paul McCreesh stood onstage at Orchestra Hall, and his return comes with an oratorio that has not been performed by the Orchestra in just as long. The Minnesota Chorale takes the stage with the Orchestra for Haydn’s The Creation, featuring soprano Joélle Harvey, tenor Robert Murray and bass-baritone Kevin Deas. It will be a joyful celebration of new life, community voices, and nature all together—a perfect program to welcome spring.

The Friday night performance will be broadcast live on YourClassical Minnesota Public Radio. Find your station or listen online.

A Few Things To Know

  1. Paul McCreesh is the founder and artistic director of the Gabrieli Consort and Players. He is an avid supporter of expanding access to the arts and providing music education opportunities for all.
  2. Soprano Joelle Harvey and tenor Robert Murray make their Minnesota Orchestra debuts in these performances.
  3. In 2023, the Minnesota Chorale enters its sixth decade of performing choral music in the Twin Cities.

Explore the concert extras

Date & Time

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Program

  • HAYDN

    The Creation

    1 min note

    One Minute Note

    Late in life, Haydn completed his massive output of symphonies and explored new creative challenges, none more ambitious than The Creation, which was modeled after Handel’s oratorios. Expressing the view that nature is the supreme testament of God, it is assembled primarily from the Christian and Hebrew Book of Genesis and biblical Psalms, as well as Milton’s Paradise Lost. The first two parts describe the Judeo-Christian creation story through declamatory recitatives and arias and ariosos that constitute miniature tone paintings, while the concluding third part focuses on an extended tableau for chorus and soloists that places the listener in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve in their state of innocence. Along the way we go on a musical safari through the natural world that evokes creatures ranging from whales to a growling lion to lowly insects and conjures howling winds, thunder and lightning. The Creation’s libretto was issued in English and German, and these performance feature the English text as revised by this week’s conductor Paul McCreesh in a version that addresses flaws in the original and improves accessibility for English-speaking listeners.

Artists

Minnesota Orchestra

Minnesota Chorale

Paul McCreesh

conductor

Robert Murray

tenor

Kevin Deas

bass-baritone

Listen Ahead

Accessibility Services

  • Armless & Bariatric Chairs
  • Assistive Listening Devices
  • Large-Print Programs
  • Noise-Cancelling Headphones
  • Service Animals
  • Wheelchair & Accessible Seating

Additional services are available upon request.

Sponsored by

MSAB