The Australian Haydn Ensemble, Tempora Mutantur, Albert Hall, December 17. Reviewed by GRAHAM McDONALD.

WE normally hear the Sydney-based Haydn Ensemble three or four times a year, but this was but their second performance for 2020 following another back in February. A different program had been planned for this tour, but it was changed to include Haydn’s Symphony No.64, known by the nickname of “Tempora Mutantur” – “times are changed”. Hard to argue with that. 

The Haydn Ensemble has always had flexible numbers of musicians, depending on the repertoire. For this program it was a string quartet with fortepiano and the addition of a flute for the Haydn Symphony. Violinist Skye McIntosh, the founder and artistic director of the ensemble, was joined by guest director Erin Helyard on fortepiano, with regular second violin Matthew Greco, Karina Schmitz on viola, cellist Daniel Yeadon and Melissa Farrow on flute.

The program was three late-18th-century works. First was the Piano Quintet Op 57, No.3 in E minor by Luigi Boccherini. This was followed by Mozart’s Piano Concerto No.6 in B-flat major, where the performers themselves have reworked the orchestral score for the quartet. It worked charmingly with the fortepiano rippling away under the strings. Flautist Melissa Farrow joined them for the Haydn Symphony No.64 in A major to finish the concert. This was an arrangement by Haydn’s London-based promoter and publisher Johann Salomon, and the ensemble have taken advantage in previous programs of Salomon’s pared-down arrangements of Haydn’s works.

As always, this group of musicians reward the listeners with well-thought-out programs, sprightly playing and a sense of enjoyment. The quieter fortepiano sits comfortably balanced with the quartet, where a modern pianoforte can overwhelm a string quartet.

This was a slightly scary foretaste of what might be the future of music performances, at least for the next year or two. The seating in the Albert Hall was in pairs, scattered at the appropriate intervals. A rough count was around 90-100 in the audience, rather than 200 or more. The program notes had to be downloaded through a QR code on a phone and optional face masks where available for those who felt them necessary. A few audience members had what were obviously their own masks. The dispersed audience gives a strange feeling to the room, but when both musicians and audience were obviously so glad to be actually attending a concert with live music, it is but a very minor concern.