Nowadays, premieres of classical works anywhere in New Zealand are rare. On October 22, however, The Scholars Pro Musica & Consort, Tauranga's pre-eminent chamber choir, will perform New Zealand's first performance of Michael Haydn's Missa in Honorem Sanctae Ursulae as part of the 2011 Tauranga Arts Festival.
Despite being largely overshadowed by his two great contemporaries (being his elder brother, Franz Josef Haydn and also Mozart), Michael Haydn was appointed the Salzburg Court Composer and Konzertmeister in 1762. Michael Haydn, of a less ambitious nature than that of his brother, and unlike the young Mozart, was largely content with his work at the court in Salzburg, spending 43 years in service.
Michael Haydn was held in an extremely high regard not only in Salzburg but also throughout Europe, declining numerous prestigious offers of employment. His particular talent lay in writing choral music. Hoffmann recorded: "All connoisseurs of music know, that as a composer of sacred music Michael Haydn ranks amongst the finest of any age or nations ... In this field he is fully his brother's equal; in fact, by the seriousness of his concept he often surpasses him by far." Haydn's sacred choral works are generally regarded as his most important. His brother, Franz Josef, agreed and maintained that Michael's religious works were far superior to his own. Such admiration was widespread; Schubert, too, wrote that he venerated Haydn's work.
Michael Haydn and the younger Mozart also enjoyed a friendly relationship, based on a mutual respect. The two maintained contact even after Mozart left for Vienna. When Mozart returned to Salzburg in 1783, he visited Haydn and found his old friend unwell but under pressure to deliver some music. Without hesitation, and in order to help his friend, Mozart went away and wrote two string duos (K423 and 424) that were duly passed as Haydn's own work.
Under the talented leadership of vibrant young musical director, Maestro Chalium Poppy, a figure now synonymous in the region with musical excellence, The Scholars Pro Musica choir teams up with a first-class orchestra, and four of New Zealand's most recognised and sought-after soloists for this exciting premiere: soprano, Gina Sanders; alto, Tracy Scott; tenor, Iain Tetley; and bass, David Griffiths. Also on the concert programme is the exciting Hofkapellmeistermesse by Antonio Salieri, perhaps history's greatest victim of character assassination, preposterously rumoured to have poisoned Mozart out of jealousy but this holding no factual basis whatsoever.