Eszterháza
Eszterháza is a palace in Fertőd, Hungary, built by Prince Nikolaus Esterházy. Sometimes called the "Hungarian Versailles", it is Hungary's grandest Rococo edifice. It was the home of Joseph Haydn and his orchestra from 1766 to 1790.
History
Esterháza was not the primary or ancestral home of the
The first architect to work on the project was Johann Ferdinand Mödlhammer, succeeded in 1765 by Melchior Hefele.[1] While the palace is often compared to Versailles, which the Prince had visited in 1764 when he visited Paris,[2][3] H. C. Robbins Landon claims that a more direct influence can be found in "Austrian prototypes, particularly Schönbrunn palace in Vienna." Three of the windows above the main entrance are designed as homage to strings instruments, violin, viola, cello.
The palace cost the Prince the sum of 13 million Austrian gulden, a figure that Robbins Landon terms "astronomical".
Eszterháza was first inhabited in 1766, but construction continued for many years. The opera house was completed in 1768 (the first performance was of
Nikolaus Esterházy died in 1790. Neither his son
In 2018, it was used as the shooting location for the Melanie Martinez film K-12.
Location
The palace was built near the south shore of the
Rooms
The palace has 126 rooms. Of particular note is the Banquet Room which has on its ceiling a painting of
Haydn at Eszterháza
From 1766 to 1790, the estate was the home of the celebrated composer Joseph Haydn,[4] where he lived in a four-room flat in a large two-storey building housing servants' quarters, separate from the palace.[5] Haydn wrote the majority of his symphonies for the Prince's orchestra. Eszterháza also had two opera houses, the main theatre seating 400 (destroyed by fire in 1779) and a marionette theatre;[6] Haydn conducted his own and others' operas, often with more than a hundred performances per year.[7]
The palace was geographically isolated, a factor which led to loneliness and tedium among the musicians. This is seen in some of Haydn's
Picture gallery
-
Fountain with marriage in 2008
Eszterházy Treasure
See also
- Buildings inspired by Versailles
- House of Esterházy
- List of residences of Joseph Haydn
- Schloss Esterházy
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h Robbins Landon, H. C. and David Wyn Jones (1988). Haydn: His Life and Music. Thames and Hudson. p. 95.
- ^ Lewis, Paul (October 13, 1985). "Hungary's Versailles". The New York Times. Retrieved August 29, 2019.
- ISBN 978-1-108-01987-3.
- Joseph Haydn: geographic key
- ^ At Madach sétány 1, now a music museum (Muzsikaház) and gallery.
- ^ Wyn Jones D, Ed. The Haydn Oxford Composer Companion. Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2002.
- ^ Webster, James (2001). "Joseph Haydn", article in The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians.
Further reading
- Chissell, J. (June 22, 1971). "A Week of Music at the Eszterháza Palace". The Times (London). Issue 58205. p. 7.
- Malina, J. (2016). On the Venues for Decline of the Academies at Eszterháza in Hoyden's Time (2nd ed., Vol. 13). Cambridge University Press.