Concert Suggestions
‘Friendship Binds the World’ - Vocal and Instrumental Music
A varied and virtuosic programme combining the elegance of French dance, the sophistication of German text interpretation and the freshness of Italian sonorities in the finest of mélanges.
Johann Rosenmüller (1619-1684), Bach’s predecessor in the Thomaskirche in Leipzig,
shows in his sprightly Regina cœli laetare that his stay abroad in Venice was productive indeed! Philipp Heinrich Erlebach (1657-1714) who, like J.S. Bach, never left his homeland of Northern Germany, demonstrates in his suites and his wonderfully intimate ‘Oratorio Cantatas’ that the absorption of style is not always a question of having traveled. Works by Rosenmüller, Tunder, Erlebach, Bertali und J. Chr. Bach are performed by the world class Capricornus Consort Basel together with Christian Immler and countertenor Franz Vitzthum.
‘Girls were made to love and kiss!’ (‘Gern’ hab’ ich die Frau’n geküsst!’)
Operetta Arias with string quintet, piano, flute and clarinet (instrumentation flexible)
A witty, whirling and at times nostalgic programme that sings of the beautiful city of Vienna - and of it’s equally beautiful women. Through lilting waltzes (including Arnold Schönberg’s arrangement of Johann Strauss’s Kaiserwalzer), we waft between love’s joy and love’s pain (Fritz Kreisler’s Liebesleid). Features works by Alexander Zemlinsky (Walzergesänge op. 6), Robert Stolz, Hans Gál, Emmerich Kálmán and Franz Lehár.
Worth noting: one doesn’t always need a tenor for such a programme!
‘Der Drache bläset lermen‘/’The Dragon thunders’
Virtuosic yet enchanting music for bass, trumpets and ensemble
Johann Krieger’s (1651-1735) cantata title draws on the trumpet’s universal appeal and elemental force. The instrument - kingly, lordly, godly and yet also terrible - transformed itself at the beginning of the 18th century into something virtuosic and spellbinding (in 1713 Mattheson even spoke of the ‘douceur’/‘sweetness’ of the trumpet’s timbre). The bass voice is the ideal partner to ground the entire spectrum of the trumpet’s sound.
Christian Immler and the renowned Concerto Stella Matutina have assembled a fiery programme with works by the Krieger brothers, Hertel, Bach, Finger, Biber, Vejvanovský and Telemann that celebrates virtuosity and joyousness in concert hall and church alike.