David Rabinovich - eerste viool, artistiek leider
Igor Ruhadze - eerste viool
Marc Cooper en Lilia Slavny - tweede viool
Staas Swierstra - altviool
Sergei Istomin - cello
Robert Franenberg - contrabas
Ofer Frenkel en Peter Tabori - hobo
Kate Clark en Marion Moonen - traverso
Karen Libischewski en Torben Klink - hoorn
Thomas Oltheten - fagot

Opgenomen in de Doopsgezinde kerk te Deventer
Produktie: Bert van Dijk, Helix Audio
Ontwikkeling: Marion Boshuizen
Aantekeningen in het boekje zijn van Rudolf Nammensma, vertaald in het Engels door Astrid Ras
Omslag: Esterhazy paleis.

Symfonie in D groot "Le Matin" Hob. I:6 (22:18)

  1.  Adagio - Allegro (5:55)

  2. Adagio - Andante (7:34)

  3. Menuet - Trio (4:13)

  4. Finale - Allegro (4:36)

Symfonie in C groot "Le Midi" Hob. I:7 (23:53)

  5. Adagio - Allegro (7:48)

  6.  Recitativo - Adagio (8:05)

  7. Menuet - Trio (3:38)

  8. Finale - Allegro (4:22)

Symfonie in G groot "Le Soir" Hob. I:8 (25:18)

  9. Allegro molto (5:50)

10. Andante (10:32)

11. Menuet - Trio (4:10)

12. La Tempesta: Presto (4:46)

Interview with artistic leader David Rabinovich
By Rudolf Nammensma (musicologist and critic)

On a different planet
Recording a CD with the music of Joseph Haydn (1732-1809) is certainly no penalty for David Rabinovich artistic leader of the Apollo Ensemble. "Haydn is so original and remarkable; he never ceases to fascinate me. That will probably never change. There is something unique about his music, which can be logically
explained. Haydn wasn't part of the musical mainstream. He lived and composed in comparative isolation at the Esterházy court, where he worked for about thirty years. While new musical developments were going on in the world around him, he lived on another planet, as it were. Musical fashions hardly ever reached him. He had to make his own inventions and to keep testing
and perfecting them, to remain popular." Needless to say Rabinovich is a Haydn fan.

The harpsichord
With regard to the artistic angle, he draws on the latest scholarly views. As a result, the symphonies on this CD (Le Matin, Le Midi and Le Soir) sound different from various previous recordings. "Take the harpsichord for instance. There are many
recordings in which this instrument plays a key role. However, today we have indications that Haydn prescribed this instrument for opera performances only and not for symphonies. This became one of my starting points.'' And there is a second reason why Rabinovich shuns the harpsichord. "I've got a predilection for the symphonies of the younger Haydn. For in those compositions he explored the boundary between the baroque and the classical. This could have led me either I way. I wanted to accentuate the classical elements in Haydn's work and so the harpsichord had to go."

Vivaldi's role
The titles Le Matin, Le Midi and Le Soir (The Morning, The Afternoon and The Evening) which link these three symphonies (no. 6, 7 and 8) together, were chosen for a reason. "This is what l'm thinking: when Haydn came to work for the Esterházys, Vivaldi's music was all the rage there. The palace library still includes a score of the Le quattro stagioni concertos. It is quite conceivable that Haydn was inspired by this fact, which resulted in these three symphonies. Maybe he tried to please his patron and thereby secure his position at court."

Program music
Would it be alright then to regard these symphonies purely as program music? "Not in the way of Smetana's The Moldau. Or the Four seasons for that matter. Haydn worked in a much more refined way and on a smaller scale, but succeeded in presenting us with clearly discernable musical metaphors. Just listen to the first bars of Le Matin, you can clearly hear the sunrise. This
was the first time he used it. Later, in his Die Jahreszeiten and Die Schöpfung he would present us with something similar.
Next comes Le Midi, the time when the day is at its 'fullest'. In this piece, the orchestra also sounds at its fullest, which is illustrated for example by the second flute that appears (in part two) and which was probably played by the oboist. In Le Soir Haydn unleashes a storm. Of course, this is a reference to Vivaldi's concerto La tempesta di mare and although nature sometimes decides otherwise, in the music of that time storms were always reserved for the evenings. In a much later age, Richard Strauss would still save it until right before sunset in An Alpine Symphony."

A 'light' version of the symphony orchestra
For this recording Rabinivich was fully inspired by the talents and capabilities currently present in the Apollo Ensemble. "Over the past twenty years the orchestra has developed mainly as a
chamber music ensemble. Now, the time has come to make a switch and move more in the direction of a small-sized symphony orchestra. And this is where Haydn's early symphonies
become interesting for us, for our orchestra has the same strength as the one Haydn used for his performances: four violins, a viola, a cello, a double bass, two oboes, a flute, a bassoon and two horns. Small-sized indeed, but it was possible because Haydn had top musicians at his disposal. The slower part of Le Soir in which all the musicians have solos, apparently wasn't a problem for them at all. This is the level that the Apollo
Ensemble currently aspires to. All the musicians are experienced enough to do these solos and - more importantly - they are always willing to support my artistic views and cooperate with each other to get the best possible result. These are qualities that are absolutely required for these synphonies."

Finally
Haydn composed about forty symphonies for smaller-sized orchestras. "Yes he did, and I would love to record them all. Who knows what the future holds...'' Enthusiastically: "It may interest
you to know that Haydn prescribed the same smaller strength for his famous symphony Abschied as for these three symphonies. Not surprising: he wrote them all for the same musicians."

Symphony no. 6, 7 and 8:
Le Matin, Le Midi and Le Soir
(The Morning, The Afternoon, and The Evening, Hoboken 1 :6,7,8 in respectively D-major, C-major and G-major are early symphonies by Haydn and they are the first three he composed for the Esterházy court. They're all characterized by the unusually virtuoso contributions of the orchestra's musicians. Haydn composed the works for Prince Nikolaus Esterházy in the spring of 1761, almost immediately after he started his employment at court. Esterházy's court had a chamber orchestra. Haydn composed the symphonies in such a way that each individual musician got his own moment in the limelight. Presumably, Haydn didn't create the compositions merely to gratify his new employer, but the members of his orchestra as well. Their goodwill was of the essence for the future of his career at court. The concerto grosso, very fashionable in those days at the European courts, served as an inspiration to Haydn. This is clearly audible in Le Matin's finale, with virtuoso solos for alternately the cello, violin and flute.

The title Le Matin (The Morning) is derived from the slow introduction in the overture, in which the sunrise can be clearly heard. The rest of the composition is abstract, just like the other symphonies, with the exception of the tempest that is rising in Le Soir (The Evening). Incidentally, this symphony, the third and last, opens with a musical quote from Gluck's opera Le diable à quatre, of the piece Je n'aimais pas le tabac beaucoup (I
didn't like tobacco much)''.

The Apollo Ensemble stages unique, high-level concertos. Their range of action extends from the larger world stages in Washington DC and Moscow, to a tiny historic church on the former island of Schokland (in the Netherlands). Over the years, the Apollo Ensemble put on widely diverse performances. From Das musikalisches Opfer by Johann Sebastian Bach and the works of Telemann and Schaffrath during nightly concertos, to Jewish baroque music, Italian sonatas for violin and harpsichord and bassoon sonatas by Devienne, Amon and Mozart. The ensemble also came up with some very original theme concertos with such titles as The Apollo Room at the Devil, Musica Poetica Herbraica, Winter warmth and Branden aan Bach. In 2011, the Apollo Ensemble took part in the youth theatre production Who'll tame the king by music group Oorkaan, which was also performed in the Amsterdam Concertgebouw. A recurring activity by the Apollo Ensemble is the annual summer school: for a whole week the summer school students take part in intensive chamber music sessions and attend classes on baroque music in combination with authentic performance sessions. This CD of Haydn's symphonies is the Apollo Ensemble's fourteenth CD-recording.

The Apollo Ensemble's artistic leader is violinist David Rabinovich. Born in the former Soviet Union, Rabinovich studied with Zahar Bron at the Glinka Conservatory in Novosibirsk. After completing his studies, he became Bron's assistant. In Novosibirsk he performed with the Novosibirsk Philharmonic Orchestra and the Novosibirsk Opera Orchestra. In 1994 he came to the Netherlands to study the baroque violin at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague. Today, the range of his activities is both diverse and international; he is a violinist in several prestigious baroque orchestras, such as the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra, the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, and King's Consort. The conductors he has worked with include Simon Rattle, William Christie, and Philippe Herreweghe. Ton Koopman often invites Rabinovich to his orchestra as leader of the second violin section or as participant in his chamber music programs.
Rabinovich is very passionate about chamber music, the most intense form of ensemble playing and musical interaction. Leading a chamber music ensemble without a conductor is only one of his many talents. Under his guidance the Apollo Ensemble has developed into a top rate ensemble with a clear vision of its own.
His longstanding experience as solo player, artistic leader and concertmaster makes David Rabinovich a frequently invited guest-musician to give master classes, lead projects and coach ensembles.