Keywords: Baroque, Chamber Music, Early Music
| Pearls in Baroque Chamber Orchestra | |
| Sayuri Yamagata | Violin, Concertmaster |
| Noriko Amano | Harpsichord, Artistic leader |
| Emily van Baaren | Baroque dance |
| Zevende sonate in C | Henry Purcell |
| L'Apothéose de Lully | François Couperin |
| Passacaille (uit 'Armide') | Lully/D’Anglebert |
| Quatrième concert (from 'Pièces de clavecin en concert') | Rameau |
These events are similar in terms of concept, place, musicians or the program.
The Ensemble Diderot explores the diverse beauties of baroque chamber music. For this concert, the French trio sonata takes centre stage. These are musical treasures full of dance – like vigour and melodic elegance, in which two melodic voices are intertwined with a bass line. Great composers like François Couperin and Jean-Philippe Rameau focused on the genre, but lesser-known names can also be discovered on this programme – such as that of Élisabeth Jacquet de La Guerre, who was patronised by King Louis XIV and was considered a “miracle of the century” during her lifetime.
Human existence is a contradictory business. »The Art of Being Human« explores the complex impacts of this trite fact. The Grammy award-winning viola da gamba ensemble Phantasm thereby ensures a musical performance at the very highest level. Its members put their instrumental mastery into operation for an evening in which old sounds and contemporary dance blend into an inseparable unit and jointly try to fathom the darkest recesses of the human condition. Choreographer Sommer Ulrickson and allround visual artist Alexander Polzin create a multidisciplinary framework in which music and movement come together, connect with each other, hook into each other, collide and cross fertilise. Under the leadership of Laurence Dreyfus, Phantasm plays music of English masters, such as John Dowland, Henry Purcell and William Byrd. At the same time, the musicians interact in the most diverse way with the dancers, who move as partners and yet adversaries around sculptures by the Berlin artist Alexander Polzin. The result is a staged concert evening, which makes full use of the potential of this currently popular format!
Join in the dancing! As part of the festivities in honour of William Christie’s 80th birthday, Les Arts Florissants invites you to a new participatory ball.
For lovers of chamber music the Recital Hall is the venue of choice. You can hear the musicians breathe and you can practically touch them. This hall is also cherished by musicians for its beautiful acoustics and direct contact with the audience. In the Recital Hall you can hear the best musicians of our time. Buy your tickets now and experience the magic of the Recital Hall for yourself!
This concert is like tasting exquisite French wines – it explores the wealth of musical flavours, aromas and notes contained in the sophisticated compositions of French artists of the 17th and 18th centuries. One can easily imagine Jean-Henri d'Anglebert's Prelude non mesuré opening the evening with notes of deep, sensual sound. What does the imagination suggest? Can you find hints of dark fruit in it? François Martin's Sonata II will remind you of the delicate taste of tannins, balanced by an elegant texture. We would say that Pierre Gautier's Suites des Prisons brings notes of oak barrels and leather accents to mind. De Villeneuve is a composer who shares a surname with famous French wines. In his Suite No. 3 from the collection Conversations en manière de sonatas, he takes us straight to the essence of a refined pale golden liquid that encases subtle floral notes. Alexandra KozowiczConcert duration: approximately 70 minutes
Stars up close! Today, Augustin Hadelich is a world-leading violinist who conquers the world's stages and performs with the best orchestras, including the NOSPR. He returns with a chamber programme, in duo with the versatile piano virtuoso Francesco Piemontesi. Their concert, which will be dominated by French music, is designed in a modern way. There is no shortage of the canon of violin music, represented by Franck's striking, emotional, late Romantic sonata and Debussy's subtle, intimate sonata. They are accompanied by a third, wonderfully melodic sonata by Francis Poulenc. Both predecessors will shine through, as Poulenc's sounds focus their qualities like a lens because our perception changes with the context. Old French music (by de Grigny and Rameau) will indicate the roots of the work of the masters from the Seine banks mentioned above. György Kurtág's handful of short musical gestures, meanwhile, will allow us to pause for a moment to take a fresh look at what we already know. Adam Suprynowicz Concert duration (intermission included): approximately 90 minutes
The Danish baroque specialists Concerto Copenhagen presents a programme centered around Händel and Roman. When the young Swedish violinist and composer Johan Helmich Roman embarked on a study trip to London in 1716, it would prove to be a journey that was decisive, not only for Roman’s life but for the entire history of Swedish music.Roman came from the German-dominated music scene in Stockholm to London where the dominant musical trend was the Italian style, embodied in the recently arrived Georg Friedrich Händel. Roman was an active part of London’s musical life. He played in Händel’s orchestra at the King’s Theatre and met other musicians and composers, many of them from Italy. So, when Roman returned to Stockholm in 1721, he did so as a well-educated, modern-oriented musician and a brilliant violinist. Most importantly, as a composer, he had acquired a thorough understanding of new stylistic trends, not only in opera but also in instrumental music. Roman remained associated with the Swedish court orchestra throughout his life, and his stay in London not only affected ”the father of Swedish music,” as Roman is known today, but also changed the history of Swedish music.This program presents the music that ”the Swedish Händel,” Johan Helmich Roman, encountered in London, as well as the music he composed himself.
An exciting journey of discovering the wide-ranging world of the Baroque era: the programme features a hand-picked selection of chamber music from the 17th and 18th centuries, some of which are rarely heard works filled with virtuosity, colours and melodic expression. And there is a marvellous foray into some of the European courts of this era. The influence of the Dresden court lutenist Sylvius Leopold Weiss, for example, reached far beyond Saxony: Wilhelmine, the music-loving Margravine of Bayreuth, also arranged for his harmonious compositions to be performed in her palace. When Telemann presented his series of quartets at the royal court in Versailles, the musical world there was at his feet – as the elegant and engaging dance movements were his fervent homage to the most elegant court in Europe at the time. It was said of Karl Kohaut that he was a »must-hear« when visiting Vienna. He was regarded as a gifted player of the lute in Haydn’s circle, but also composed himself – often with a preference for folk idioms. Michel Lambert was not only famous as a singer in the Parisian salons in the age of Louis XIV, but was also widely popular for his marvellous melodies, which were published widely as instrumental works. At the end of the Baroque picture book, we hear wonderful variations on the »Follia« tune, a stirring dance in triple metre that was a popular hit in Europe at that time: it was performed constantly in the streets, whether sung, whistled or stomped. Vivaldi’s magnificent version is a true showdown between the instruments.
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