Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (1809–1847)
Sinfonia No. 9 in C major, MWV N 9, ‘Swiss Symphony’ (completed 12 March 1823)

Overture in C major, Op. 24, ‘Nocturno’, MWV P 1
(Version for 11 wind instruments, dated: Berlin, 27 June 1826)

Sinfonia No. 8 in D major, MWV N 8, version for large orchestra (30 November 1822 to late February 1823)

L’Orfeo Barockorchestra
Michi Gaigg, conductor

Leipzig Street No. 3, 7 July
in the garden, 1826.

My dearest sister!
I wish I were a zander; for apart from the good taste, which I am very keen on and which is innate to all zanders, you also have the privilege of bathing all day long, and the water is 22°. Then you need not tailor your expressions, your courtly manners, nor your overtures; in short, they are happy creatures, compared to me …
(Felix to Fanny Mendelssohn Bartholdy in Bad Doberan)

From these lines, we can glimpse just how much effort composing cost Mendelssohn. As performers and as an audience, we consider ourselves as fortunate as the zander!

George Frideric Handel (1685–1759)
The Messiah HWV 56
Oratorio in three parts (1742)

Lydia Teuscher, soprano
Melissa Zgouridi, alto
Virgil Hartinger, tenor
Daniel Okulitch, bass

Collegium Vocale Salzburg
L’Orfeo Barockorchester

Ivor Bolton, conductor

Get into the Christmas spirit with Handel’s timeless oratorio and experience the full range of Baroque emotions in a work of timeless beauty and overwhelming drama.

“Pure delight, pure joy”
Pre-Christmas music from 18th century Germany

German Baroque music to fit the special time around Advent. The programme includes cantatas composed for intimate domestic use, as well as gallant court music and music composed for the educated class. Works i.e. by Georg Philipp Telemann, Johann David Heinichen and Christian Ludwig Boxberg:

Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1767)
“Lauter Wonne, lauter Freude”, cantata for the 4th Sunday of Advent TWV 1:1040
for high voice, recorder and b.c.
(from: Harmonischer Gottesdienst, Hamburg, 1725)

Christoph Schaffrath (1709-1763)
Trio Sonata in G minor for oboe, recorder (orig. violin) and b.c. CSWV E:18 (1760)
Allegro – Largo – Presto

Georg Philipp Telemann
Sonata II in G minor
for 2 oboes without bass
(from: 18 Canons mélodieux ou 6 sonates en duo, Paris, 1738)
Presto – Largo – Vivace

Duetto II in C major TWV 40:125
for 2 recorders without bass
(from: Second livre de duo pour deux violons, fluites ou hautbois, Paris, 1752)
Vivace – Moderato – Allegro

Christian Ludwig Boxberg
“Der Engel des Herrn lagert sich”, cantata for Michaelmas
for soprano, 2 oboes and b.c.

Georg Philipp Telemann
“Da, Jesu, Deinen Ruhm zu mehren”, cantata for the 12th Sunday after Trinity TWV 1:531a
for high voice, recorder and b.c.
(from: Fortsetzung des Harmonischen Gottesdienstes, Hamburg, 1731-32)

Trio Sonata in D minor TWV 42:d11 (1708-1712)
for two oboes and b.c.
Gravement en Menuet – Lentement – Gayement

Christian Ludwig Boxberg
“Komm Ehrenprinz”, cantata for the 1st Sunday of Advent
for soprano, two oboes, viola da gamba and b.c.

Johanna Falkinger, soprano
L’Orfeo Barockensemble
Carin van Heerden and Philipp Wagner, oboe and recorder
Matthias Müller, viola da gamba
Jean-Christophe Dijoux, harpsichord

Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1767)
Sonate in E minor for 2 oboes, bassoon, strings and b.c. TWV 50:4

Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741)
Concerto in G minor „La Notte“, RV 439

Henry Purcell (1659-1695)
Suite from „The Fairy-Queen“ Z 629 (1692)

Jean de Cambefort (1605-1661)
Ouvteture from „Ballet Royal de la Nuict“ (1653)

Marc Antoine Charpentier (1643-1704)
„La Nuit“ from the Grand motet „In Nativitatem Domini Canticum“ H 416

Marin Marais (1656-1728)
„Plainte“ and „Petite Passacaille“ from „Piéces en Trio“, 2nd Suite in G minor (1692)

Georg Philipp Telemann
Concerto in E major for viola d’amore, oboe d’amore, flauto traverso, strings and b.c. TWV 53:E1

L’Orfeo Barockorchester
Carin van Heerden, oboe, recorder & musical direction

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was by no means the first to observe that the night can serve as a profound gateway to hidden thoughts. Even for people of the Baroque era, the night was regarded as a time for reflection, for contemplation, and for bringing worries or joys to the surface. Yet it always seemed to be imbued with a touch of the unreal and the intangible.

Composers from across Europe drew inspiration from this state between dream and reality, creating works that explore the depiction of night, sleep, doom and hope, danger and security. Some of these will be performed in the programme of the L’Orfeo Barockorchester: In his ‘Concerto intitolato La Notte’, Antonio Vivaldi evokes the shudder of darkness and various eerie figures born of the imagination – a work by the Venetian master which, through its abrupt contrasts between stillness and turmoil, brings to life the state between sleep and a startled awakening.

Georg Philipp Telemann, renowned for his extraordinary productivity and artistic inspiration, is represented twice: with an artful sonata composed in the French style and a colourful Italian concerto featuring, amongst other instruments, the viola d’amore — an instrument whose ethereal sound perfectly captures the mood of the evening. We then journey to France itself with the overture from Jean de Cambefort’s ‘Ballet Royal de la Nuit’ – that courtly spectacle of 1653 in which the young Louis XIV first appeared on stage as the Sun King. Marc Antoine Charpentier, in turn, with his heartfelt ‘La Nuit’, bathes the Nativity in both the darkness of night and a gentle light.

Marin Marais, a master of the viola da gamba as well as of French opera, adds a plaintive, deeply personal voice with a ‘Plainte’ from his ‘Pièces en trio’, which meets music of a kindred spirit and mood in ‘If Love’s a Sweet Passion’ from Henry Purcell’s ‘The Fairy Queen’ – set within a realm of fairies painted with sound, dreams and magical transformations.