Haydn's Nelson Mass

The BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorus conducted by Hannu Lintu in Haydn's stirring Nelson mass plus music by Samy Moussa, and Strauss's Ein Heldenleben (A Hero's life).

Recorded at the Barbican on Friday 29th November 2024. Presented by Ian Skelly.

Joseph Haydn: Mass in D minor 'Nelsonmesse', Hob. XXII:11

Interval

Samy Moussa: Elysium
Richard Strauss: Ein Heldenleben

Nardus Williams (soprano)
Jennifer Johnston (mezzo-soprano)
Laurence Kilsby (tenor)
Derek Welton (bass-baritone)
BBC Symphony Chorus
BBC Symphony Orchestra
Hannu Lintu (conductor)

No prizes for guessing the real hero of Richard Strauss’s Ein Heldenleben. With its swashbuckling self-confidence, self-mocking humour and a positively steamy love scene, this “Hero’s Life” is very much the world according to R. Strauss – an exuberant, off-the-scale showpiece for the BBC Symphony Orchestra and guest conductor Hannu Lintu, making a much-anticipated return.

And that’s not even the half of it: Lintu opens the second half with a vision of paradise, originally created for the Vienna Philharmonic by the brilliant young Canadian composer Samy Moussa. It all begins wth the BBC Symphony Chorus and a starry line up of solo singers, in Haydn’s Nelson Mass: sacred music written in a time of war, with all the power and drama of a great opera.

To listen on most smart speakers just say “ask BBC Sounds to play Radio 3 in Concert.