Classical Illusions?

What do we really mean by the Classical period? Above all, it evokes a commitment to reason and a respect for the laws of nature. During the eighteenth century, the ideals of the Enlightenment spread across Europe, shaped by advances in science and a growing awareness of history. In the arts, this new outlook encouraged composers and artists to turn away from gods and mythical creatures in favour of clarity, balance, and directness of expression. This programme offers a striking illustration of that aesthetic. Vanhal, Haydn and Mozart stand among the pioneers of the Classical style in its most rigorous form. Yet violinist Lena Neudauer is determined to reveal what lies beneath this apparent restraint, allowing passion and emotional intensity to come to the fore. Johann Baptist Vanhal himself provides the perfect example. He was also one of the leading figures of Sturm und Drang., that brief but influential movement which—how daring!—challenged discipline and convention in favour of a more immediate and uninhibited mode of expression. Could it be, then, that the Classicism we think we know is little more than an illusion?