Symphoniker Hamburg / Chamber Concert

Under the motto »Haydn Meets Schubert«, this evening brings together chamber-music wit, dramatic depth and symphonic richness. The programme opens with Haydn’s famous Symphony No. 45 in F-sharp minor, the so-called »Farewell Symphony«, in an exhilarating arrangement for mixed octet by Ulf-Guido Schäfer. With its colourful combination of wind and string instruments, the work takes on an entirely new and intimate dramatic quality. The symphony owes its name to its legendary finale, in which the musicians pack away their instruments and leave the stage one by one until only two violins remain – a charming, tongue-in-cheek protest by Haydn against his employer’s excessively long summer season.