Australian Haydn Ensemble - Beethoven's Fourth

Next date: Saturday, 02 May 2026 | 04:00 PM

How does that one go again? Neglected even amongst Beethoven’s even-numbered “B-side” symphonies, No. 4 in B flat can be a little slow to spring to mind, but once that effervescent first subject banishes the portent of the mock-gloomy introduction, the delights of this work come flooding back. Really remarkable passages abound-suspension, resolution, modulation, deliberate confounding of expectation to comic effect; “masterclass” is applicable, but it’s far too much fun for that. Besides rescuing a bassoonist from a fiendish solo in the finale, the Watts arrangement for flute and string sextet lends a filagree of clarity to a warm and witty work that will leave you beaming.

Pre-interval also sees the AHE in miniature symphonic mode. In 2025, listeners loved the Linz, so roll on Mozart’s prequel, the Haffner Symphony, K. 385, also presented in Cimador’s bite-sized arrangement. Poor Wolfgang couldn’t put a foot right with his dad, who requested this as a flattery piece for a bigwig about to officially enter the aristocracy. The proverbial dog ate Mozart’s homework (“up to his ears” as he was in Seraglio, newly weddedness and house-moving), and by the time it reached his livid father, Herr Haffner’s festoons had long been consigned to the family schloss’s landfill. Sometime later the symphony arrived back in Mozart’s mailbox and, while he’d forgotten literally every note of it, he discovered it was rather good. Generations of listeners agree: it brims over with opera buffa bravura and rollicking rhythm.

Boccherini may be short on symphonies to pare down, but his predilection for extra bottom end with his string quintets always gives them an ambition beyond the chamber. The one in A minor from 1778’s Op. 25 has the deep lustre and nobility of a substantial work. But as you’ll discover, there’s no shortage of Luigi’s unmistakable character: from galloping caballos to a closing rondo-in Turkish style-that beats Mozart to the post.

Lean but lovely fare and a fourth to be reckoned with.

ARTISTS

Skye McIntosh, violin
Matthew Greco, violin
Rafael Font, viola
John Ma, viola
Daniel Yeadon, cello
Pippa MacMillan, double bass
Melissa Farrow, flute