Concert Handel and Bach. A Failed Meeting

The trajectory of the fate of George Friedrich Handel began on March 5 (new style) in the German city of Halle. In an effort to improve himself, the composer went to Hamburg, where the opera house beckoned him. And with its closure, Handel's path lay in Italy - the birthplace of opera, which attracted the composer so much. The demanding Italian public accepted Handel's operatic creations, and the composer could have successfully lived out his days, basking in glory and sunshine under the azure sky.

However, a trip to Great Britain changed everything. At first, in Foggy Albion, Handel became famous as an opera composer. After a while, he turned to a new genre for himself, the oratorio (a large-scale work for soloists, choir and orchestra), in which he had no equal. At the same time, his creative collection was replenished with a huge number of instrumental works, including sonatas, suites, concertigrossi ("large concerts"). Over time, Handel achieved recognition, he began to be perceived as a national composer, his fame extended far beyond the borders of England. In 1759, Handel died and was buried, according to his will, in Westminster.

Johann Sebastian Bach was born on March 31 (new style) in the German city of Eisenach. The composer repeatedly moved from city to city in search of a better place of service, and in his biography, outwardly almost unremarkable, it is worth noting the most important stops: in Weimar, Köthen and Leipzig.

Without leaving the borders of German lands, Bach was at the same time well aware of the work of his colleagues and predecessors. In his legacy, Bach synthesized not only the centuries-old experience of German composers, but also the achievements of other leading schools of composition: Italy, France, Great Britain. He worked in all the existing genres of his time, bringing them to perfection, but never turned to opera, concentrating his attention on instrumental and cantata-oratorio music.

Bach's death in 1750 did not become a national tragedy: fame came to him much later. Only decades later did the realization arise that Bach's work is a unique giant encyclopedia of knowledge and meanings, which is unlikely to ever lose its relevance.

So would there be common topics for conversation, if it took place, between these two, on the one hand, completely different composers? Probably yes. After all, the works of Handel and Bach, the creators of the Baroque era, in which the intellectual and emotional principles are intertwined in the most intimate way, are essentially about man and addressed to man outside of time and space.

The musical "meeting" of Handel and Bach within the framework of the concert is timed to coincide with the 340th anniversary of the birth of the composers who gave humanity the opportunity to seek spiritual paths and find true guidelines thanks to the music they created.

The program is timed to coincide with the 340th anniversary of two titans of the Baroque era - GEORG FRIEDRICH HANDEL AND JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH

Part I

Georg Friedrich Handel

CONCERTO A QUATRO D-dur. For two violins and two cellos

Con Contento

Allegro

Largo

Presto

Arzamenes's Aria in G major from the opera "XERXES"

CONCERTO GROSSO in A major. HWV 329

Andante larghetto e staccato

Allegro

Largo e staccato

Andante

Allegro

Aria OMBRA MAI FU from the opera "XERXES"

Hallelujah from the oratorio "Messiah" arranged for String Orchestra

Part II

Johann Sebastian Bach

Concerto for two violins in d minor

Vivace

Largo, ma non tanto

Allegro

Aria "ERBARME DICH, MEIN GOTT" from the oratorio "St. Matthew Passion" BWV 244

Brandenburg Concerto #3 G major

Allegro

Adagio

Allegro

Capriccio from the suite for string orchestra in g minor BWV 1070

Chamber Orchestra of the St. Petersburg Symphony Orchestra

Author of the idea, introduction and soloist — laureate of international competitions Anna Orekhova

SOLOISTS:

Laureates of international competitions

DARYA SIMONOVA (violin)

ANASTASIA MESHCHANOVA (mezzo-soprano)

SERGEI MIKHAYLYCHEV (cello)

ELENA ARENKOVA (harpsichord)

Duration: 2 hours, with one intermission.

Age limit: 6+.

Each viewer from 0 years old must purchase a ticket.

Tickets WITHOUT A SERVICE FEE!