Haydn Tour - April 2016 - Haydn Page

From Wednesday 20th to Saturday 23rd April 2016
Wednesday - Haydn's house in Eisenstadt

We walked to his house & went round (€4.50 each). There was, as I knew from the web, a show about his women. Unfortunately, all his furniture had been lost in a fire.

Thursday evening - the Eisenstadt Esterhazy Palace

Back to Eisenstadt, I wrestled with the parking system while Avis plodded on to the palace, where I caught her up. Tickets relatively expensive but the Haydnsaal (concert hall) has an over-the-top baroque ceiling & there were various Haydnabilia, plus a gross collection of porcelain & silver. We bumped into a couple of British musicians there & had a chat.

There were pictures of the woman who is the last of the Esterhazys, so I don’t know who gets the estates when she dies. There was also a set of Haydn happenings, including scenes from “Orlando Paladino” & “Il Mondo alla Luna”, not very serious productions but what does one expect? The Orlando was particularly funny. To get out, you have to go through the rubbish shop. I bought a fridge magnet of guess who? But I also asked the girl if there was anyone who knew about horn crooks. She rang the office & got Dr. Florian Thaddäus Bayer, the Head of Collections, no less, to come down to talk to us. I asked him what I had asked Brian Newbould, who’s name I invoked (& also the magic Webern). This was about B horn crooks. He could not have been more helpful, in that he said that, apart from the palace archives, they were tracing invoices from horn makers to the palaces & had them for two incomplete sets of crooks: only 13 crooks each. We exchanged cards & promised to keep each other informed.

Thursday morning - Hainberg & Haydn's birthplace at Rohrau

We drove first to Hainberg after filling up at €1.09 per litre. There was not much to see in Hainberg but I got a couple of photos..

Hainberg Gate

In Hainberg

Rohrau

Then back to Rohrau, through which we had come, to see Haydn’s birthplace. You get the cradle as well. The museum was quite nice & it was clear that they were by no means in poverty, his father serving as the local Mayor at one time. His father’s wheelwright workshop makes a decent sized concert room. The curator was a very sweet lady & full of information. The birth room was very cold, though, although there were no clouds until late today.

Haydn's Birthplace in Rohrau

The Main Room

Birth bedroom & Cradle

Parish Register entry

Wheelwright's Shop Recital Room

The Kitchen

Birthplace Courtyard

Birthplace Courtyard

We were done in time to contemplate going to Raiding for Liszt’s birthplace.