In the years before his reputation as the opera composer du jour was forged, Handel poured his creativity into a series of increasingly adventurous cantatas, among the most ambitious of which is Apollo and Daphne. Inspired by Ovid’s Metamorphoses, this ancient fable finds striking parallels with modern day power struggles, as Daphne fights to resist […]
In the years before his reputation as the opera composer du jour was forged, Handel poured his creativity into a series of increasingly adventurous cantatas, among the most ambitious of which is Apollo and Daphne. Inspired by Ovid’s Metamorphoses, this ancient fable finds striking parallels with modern day power struggles, as Daphne fights to resist […]
In the years before his reputation as the opera composer du jour was forged, Handel poured his creativity into a series of increasingly adventurous cantatas, among the most ambitious of which is Apollo e Dafne. Inspired by Ovid’s Metamorphoses, this ancient fable finds striking parallels with modern day power struggles, as Daphne fights to resist […]
The B Minor Mass is one of Bach’s greatest curiosities. A true piece of musical patchwork, this extraordinary amalgamation of arrangements, recomposed fragments and new ideas together spans more than 25 years of Bach’s career. And yet, Bach never heard it performed. Nor did he expect to - since it fits neither the Catholic or […]
From the intractable swell of the opening chorus to the profound solemnity of the last, its tone one of quiet resignation, the Matthew Passion is a work with the power to move us like no other. Bach conceived it on a grand scale, allowing for double chorus and double orchestra, and the themes it explores […]
jFrom the intractable swell of the opening chorus to the profound solemnity of the last, its tone one of quiet resignation, the Matthew Passion is a work with the power to move us like no other. Bach conceived it on a grand scale, allowing for double chorus and double orchestra, and the themes it explores […]
Spend Easter Sunday in the company of Dunedin Consort and J.S. Bach. The programme features two cantatas, each presenting a vivid and moving account of the Easter story. The glimmering opening of Himmelskönig, sei wilkommen is contrasted with the rousing chorale cantata Christ lag in Todesbanden, one of Bach’s best-loved works. These vocal masterpieces are paired […]
An irresistible programme of baroque masterpieces, including Bach's B Minor Flute Suite with its sparkling dances and rich sonorities, and his hauntingly beautiful Cantata 'Ich habe genug'. No composer can lift the spirits like Handel, and his Water Music -- written to be played on a barge on the Thames -- is so full of […]
Bach’s rich musical legacy as we know it today is partly the result of a historical accident. When he applied for the position of Kantor at Leipzig’s Thomaskirche in 1722, Bach was only third choice for the post. Telemann turned the offer down after some deliberation, and Graupner was not released from his post of […]
Bach’s rich musical legacy as we know it today is partly the result of a historical accident. When he applied for the position of Kantor at Leipzig’s Thomaskirche in 1722, Bach was only third choice for the post. Telemann turned the offer down after some deliberation and Graupner was not released from his post of […]
