Chapeau Classique: Ensemble Odyssee - Venedigs Glanz am Dresdner Hof
Courtly splendor, vibrant colors: like Dresden and Venice themselves, the music of these cultural capitals shines in the 18th century. The Saxon residence city and the lagoon republic are connected by an intense artistic exchange.
Today, the style transfer of that time inspires the renowned Baroque ensemble Odyssee from Amsterdam to immerse itself in the seductive mélange of German counterpoint, expressive melody, and Italian “sprezzatura,” the high art of making the difficult appear effortless, as if improvised.
“Venedigs Glanz am Dresdner Hof” follows in the footsteps of those musicians from the entourage of Augustus the Strong, who traveled to “La Serenissima” from 1716 to 1717, familiarizing themselves with the lively Venetian style, especially that of Vivaldi, and its instrumental brilliance, opening up the Dresden court music for it.
Thus, Pisendel, the most prominent German violinist of the late Baroque, became the concertmaster of the Dresden Court Orchestra under Hasse, and in Venice, he became a friend of Vivaldi. He brought back to Saxony, where Vivaldi never set foot, among others, Vivaldi's energetic and cantabile trio sonata in G minor. Pisendel's touching solo sonata for violin can be heard as an Italian-inspired engagement with J.S. Bach's “Sei solo.”
Hasse, admired in Italy as “il divino Sasse,” the divine Saxon, was the major opera composer of the Dresden court. His “Cantata per Flauto” also lets the recorder sing virtuously. Handel (1706–1710 in Italy) combines drama, elegance, and counterpoint in his trio sonata. Festively, Fasch, like Handel connected to the Dresden court from afar, mixes French nobility and Italian liveliness, while Heinichen, court music director in Dresden, gives his oboe sonata utmost expressiveness through Italian melody and German polyphony.
Janitsch, a member of the Berlin court orchestra, represents the gallant style of the 1730s/40s. His chamber sonata is light, transparent, courtly adept, and, like the quartet of today’s little-known Fortunato Riedel, exudes optimistic energy.
PROGRAM:
Venedigs Glanz am Dresdner Hof
Johann Friedrich Fasch (1688–1758):
Sonata in B major for recorder, oboe, violin, and basso continuo, FaWV N:B1
Georg Friedrich Händel (1685–1759):
Triosonate in C minor for recorder, violin, and B. c., HWV 386a, op. 2
Johann David Heinichen (1683–1729):
Sonate in g minor for oboe and B. c. (Manuscript)
Johann Gottlieb Janitsch (1708–1762):
Sonata de camera in F major for recorder, oboe, violin, and basso continuo, op. 6
Antonio Vivaldi (1678–1741): Triosonate in g minor for oboe, violin, and B. c., RV 81
Johann Adolph Hasse (1699–1783):
Cantata per Flauto in C major for recorder and B. c. (Manuscript circa 1728–1733)
Johann Georg Pisendel (1687–1755):
Sonata for solo violin
Fortunato Riedel (circa 1700): Quartet in F major for recorder, oboe, violin, and B. c.
Anna Stegmann recorder Georg Fritz oboe Eva Saladin violin Andrea Friggi harpsichord
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