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To commemorate the bicentenary of Haydn’s death on 31 May 1809 a magnificent feast of his music has been arranged. As Sunbird has become an essential part of the annual Haydn Festival every September (see Austria birds and music) it is only right that we also attend this special one-off event in May.
The music will include Gottfried von der Goltz (conductor and violin) and the Freiburger Baroque Orchestra playing symphonies 72, 13, 31, and 39; Paul Goodwin conducting the Acadamy of Ancient Music with symphonies 30, 49, 26, and 44; and spectacularly Adam Fischer and the Austro-Hungarian Haydn Philharmonic with the Vienna Chamber Choir performing The Creation. The Creation mass will also be performed in full liturgical setting at the Bergkirche. And plans are under way for Adam Fischer to conduct the Farewell symphony at the Hungarian Versailles, Prince Esterhazy’s summer palace at Fertod, in the very room where Haydn first conducted it.
As for the birds many of the species which have usually departed for Africa in September will be on breeding territory: Savi’s, Moustached, River, Marsh, Great Reed, Icterine, Bonelli’s, and Barred Warblers. Collared Flycatchers should be present along with Hoopoe, Golden Oriole, Nightingale, and Wryneck. There could also be Little Bittern, Pygmy Cormorant, Squacco and Night Herons, Montagu’s Harrier, Red Kite, Red-footed Falcon, Hobby, Honey Buzzard, Imperial Eagle, Little Crake, Broad-billed and Marsh Sandpipers, Mediterranean Gull, and Whiskered and White-winged Black Terns, Scops Owl, Woodlark, and Tawny and Red-throated Pipits. Bee-eaters, Red-backed Shrikes and White Storks should be everywhere. The Great Bustards could be displaying. The Bluethroats will have blue throats. On top of the Schneeberg we can search for Alpine Accentor and maybe even Snow Finch, as well as Alpine Chough and Water Pipit.
To give us the best chance of finding all these species and to take advantage of the longer summer days we shall plan some concert-free evenings which should ensure plenty of time for relaxing and enjoying the occasional early night.
If you have already enjoyed a visit to the Haydn Festival in September, this is a unique opportunity for the perfect complementary experience. If you haven’t enjoyed Haydn at Eisenstadt yet this spring week will provide the perfect introduction. Haydn was one of the most positive and life-affirming composers of all time. Haydn Year 2009 has been conceived with the goal of giving everyone who visits Burgenland a little of his joie de vivre to call their own.
Day 1: The tour begins with a flight from London to Vienna from where we’ll drive to our
hotel at Eisenstadt, our home for the next seven nights. Eisenstadt is a very special
place and the whole ambience provides the perfect setting for a festival. And of course
the actual venues – the very palaces, churches, chapels, and salons for which Haydn
wrote his music – could not be bettered. Similarly, our birding locations are scenically
impressive and varied. The concerts are of course fixed (notwithstanding any last minute
changes) but where we go each day will depend on the weather. We shall
probably start with a trip down to the lakeside at Rust, one of the most attractive little
towns maginable where every other roof is topped by nesting White Storks. At
neighboring Mörbisch the pools have in the past produced Water Rail, Spotted
Redshank, and Purple Heron and splendid views of Bearded and Penduline Tits. We
might even linger there for our evening meal.
Day 2: We shall probably spend the day exploring the Seewinkel pools for Spoonbill,
Garganey, Little Stint, Wood and Curlew Sandpipers, and Kentish Plover, and searching
the Hansag Plain for displaying Great Bustard. Another possibility is Pygmy Cormorant
which started breeding here two years ago. We shall also spend some time along the
moving Road of Remembrance leading to the Bridge at Andau (q.v. the book by James
Michener). And if we have time we might return via the Parndorfer Plain for Red-backed
Shrike, Grey Partridge, and above all various raptors, hopefully including Hobby, Saker
and Red-footed Falcon, and maybe even Imperial Eagle.
Day 3: Weather permitting, after a 7am breakfast we’ll depart early for Puchberg and
take the rack-and-pinion railway to the summit of Schneeberg for some alpine birding at
over 6000 feet. Hopefully we should see Alpine Chough, Water Pipit, maybe Alpine
Accentor and Dunnock (which like the other accentors is truly a mountain species here),
Redpoll, Raven, and if we are feeling energetic enough for a longer walk perhaps even
Snow Finch. But above all it is the views and the feeling of being on top of the world
which should take our breath away. The mountain air should give us a healthy appetite,
so we’ll have lunch at the Berghaus Hochschneeberg with a lively gypsy cymbalon and
violin accompaniment, then return to Eisenstadt in time to rest, shop, shower, or continue
birding around the Gloriette and the woods above the park.
Day 4: Today we’ll devote to Hungary, visiting Prince Esterhazy’s summer palace at
Fertod, the Hungarian Versailles (and maybe attending a private concert in the very
room where Haydn first performed his Farewell Symphony) as well as the bird reserves
at Fertöújlak, Hildmajor, and Nyirkai-Kishás, where in past years we have seen Crested
Lark, Kingfisher, Purple Heron, Curlew Sandpiper, Little Stint, Black-winged Stilt, Black-necked
Grebe, and, most unexpectedly, Little Bittern and Imperial and Steppe
Eagles. We'll also be able to sample Hungarian cuisine.
Day 5: We shall probably spend this day up the Hohe Wand, looking for Nutcracker,
Goshawk, Crested Tit, Rock Bunting, and Firecrest and a selection of other passerines in
the higher-altitude pine forests. After a hearty lunch and some more birding we’ll return
to our hotel in good time to shower, relax, perhaps have a swim and a sauna, and attend
the evening concert in the magnificent Haydnsaal which claims to have the best
acoustics in Central Europe if not the world - Freiburger Barockorchester with Gottfried
von der Goltz (conductor and violin): Haydn symphonies 72, 13, 31, 39.
Day 6: A pre-breakfast visit to Jois or Brietenbrunn Marina could produce Spotted Crake,
Bluethroat, Bearded and Penduline Tits and Moustached or Great Reed Warbler. We'll
then spend the morning at the amazing Forchtenstein castle and add more birds –
maybe Mistle Thrush, Spotted Flycatcher, and Lesser Spotted Woodpecker – to our list
around the Rosalia chapel in the wooded hills above. An excellent restaurant there will
provide us with a filling lunch. Then there will be an opportunity for more birding (or free
time in Eisenstadt) in the afternoon, before another concert in the Haydnsaal - Academy
of Ancient Music with Paul Goodwin (leader): Haydn symphonies 30, 49, 26, 44.
Day 7: Appropriately the grand climax comes on Haydn’s death day. After a pre-breakfast
option on the orangery terrace (where we usually see six species of
woodpecker) our day will continue with a thrilling performance of The Creation Mass in
full liturgical setting in the Bergkirche, the church where Haydn is buried. Then an even
more splendid climax will be The Creation oratorio itself performed by the Austro-Hungarian Haydn Philharmonic (conductor Adam Fischer) and The Vienna Chamber
Choir with soloists Thomas Quasthoff, Christoph Strehl, and Annette Dasch. And there
might just be the chance for a fitting finale with the Farewell Symphony at Fertod. If not,
we shall spend more time in the palace park, a masterpiece of English landscape
gardening. There’ll also be plenty of free time for resting, swimming, and personal
exploration, before a celebration dinner.
Day 8: After more optional pre-breakfast birding in the palace park (targeting maybe
Short-toed Treecreeper, Hawfinch, and Long-tailed Tit) we’ll depart for one final location
– Marchegg forest on the Slovakian border – where possibilities are Black Stork, Black
Kite, Collared Flycatcher and a host of woodland birds. After lunch there we’ll continue to
Vienna airport and our flight back to London, where the tour concludes.
More information
about the festival itself can be found on http://www.haydnfestival.at and the Adam Fischer & Haydn Orchestra Fan Club website is http://www.serve.com/Haydn/
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Last updated March 2009.
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