We start our Time Unwrapped series at the very beginning with the first-ever performance of Haydn’s Creation in Hall One.

Inspired by performances of Handel’s Messiah in London and an English libretto, Haydn unleashed his imagination on the greatest story of them all. The Creation abounds with vibrant sound-painting, from his audaciously radical visions of Chaos, sublime sunrise and blinding revelation of light to the zoological bonanza of Part Two, where whales, lions, horses and birds are vividly conjured, ending with the lowly worm’s ‘sinuous trace’.

Ádám Fischer, co-founder of the Haydn Festival in Eisenstadt, leads the OAE, the Choir of the Enlightenment and a trio of Rising Star soloists as Haydn’s angels in what promises to be a spectacular start to the New Year.