repertoire
Each of our concerts has a carefully created program, with the goal of bringing little known pieces to the stage in an entertaining way. Learn more about our best shows down below.
The Mad Lover
What is madness? In the Baroque era, this question was not a clinical one, but a poetic – and a musical – one. In addition to the lively “Folia” (madness), which has its origins in the folk traditions of Southern Europe, also the northern countries knew their own distinct forms of madness. There, melancholy was considered the noblest of the four humors, a sign of a sensitive, artistic disposition that feels deeply and threatens to be shattered by that very depth. Heartbreak, despair, rebellion against an indifferent world: all of this found its most direct expression in the music of the 17th and early 18th centuries. This program brings together works that explore these frontiers of human experience in a wide variety of ways – from heart-wrenching grief to ecstatic exuberance, from painful lament to a complete loss of control.
Storm and Stress
This program takes us on a journey through three musical worlds of the early 18th century: the passionate warmth of Naples, the virtuosity of the Roman-Italian Baroque, and the contrapuntal rigor of German court music. The unifying element is a musical movement that flourished during these decades, particularly in Germany: Sturm und Drang, an artistic movement originating in literature that took shape in music through dense compositional styles, the daring use of chromaticism and syncopation, and an immediate emotional expressiveness.
Goldberg meets Bassani
This program brings together two musical centers of the Baroque era that, at first glance, could hardly be more different: Dresden, with its Protestant heritage, which rose to become a magnificent royal residence under Augustus the Strong – and scholarly Bologna, with its venerable Accademia Filarmonica, the cradle of Italian instrumental music. And yet, both places are connected by a close network of personal relationships, travels, and transcriptions, which this program brings to life.