Program notes
A biography of Joseph Haydn, shot in the castle of Eisenstadt where the composer lived.
Shot in 2009, this documentary takes the 200th anniversary of composer Joseph Haydn's death as a starting point for a cinematic examination of arguably the most important pioneer of Viennese classical music. What emerges primarily is the biography of a highly talented man, born into a provincial family of simple means, who was caught between difficult circumstances and great but often fortunate or accidental achievements.
Haydn wrote most of his compositions at the ancestral seat of the Esterházy family in Eisenstadt, a dramatically dominant palace, which, to the modern day visitor, is full of unexpected perceptions and encounters with the composer. Moving through this place, a visitor continually finds artefacts belonging to Joseph Haydn and other traces of his life and work discovering a fascinating world, which through the influence of Haydn's music, continues to be felt today.