L’Orfeo tells the story of Orpheus, who loses his beloved bride Eurydice. Overwhelmed by infinite grief, he descends to the underworld to get her back, but one moment of doubt means that he has to relinquish her forever to the world of the dead. Orpheus is catapulted back and forth between love and loss, hope and dismay, expressed by Monteverdi in a powerful emotional dialogue between the orchestra and the singers.

Monteverdi’s ‘favola in musica’ or musical fable L’Orfeo is divided into five acts, with an alternation of solos and madrigals and an extensive instrumental ensemble. It is considered to be the first opera in history. The text is the basis for the musical composition, but harmony, rhythm and instrumentation also contribute to its incredible expressiveness and richness of sound. Monteverdi is rightly considered to rank among the greatest artists and scientists of his time, such as Galileo, Shakespeare, Caravaggio, Rubens, Titian and Tintoretto.

The concert by I Fagiolini promises to be a breathtaking finale to Laus Polyphoniae 2018. 411 years after it was first performed, Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo is still an unmissable experience.

26 August, 2018 20:00 -- bourlaschouwburg

During the baroque era, musical style was often defined by a distinctive regional origin. German, Italian or French music was recognisable as such, yet, composers also loved to look further than their own borders. Many composers wrote according to ‘le gout français’, the french style with its particular melodic turns, rhythms and ornamentations. André Campra’s L’Europe Galante from 1697 is considered as the first ballet-opéra ballet was till the 19th century an important feature of the french style.

Dance genres were also integrated into purely instrumental music, such as Georg Muffat’s Sonatas from the Armonico Tributo. Michel Corrette based his Concerts Comiques on various sources, such as Rameau’s Les Indes Galantes in his 25th concerto. Many composers were true Europeans, and succeeded in a masterly fashion to combine the French, Italian and German styles in their works, such as Muffat and Jean-Marie Leclair. The latter is the founder of the french violin school, yet, he worked in several european countries, where he showed his talents as a performer and composer.

26 September, 2018 21:00 -- amuz

Willem de Fesch (1687-1761) was one of the great violin virtuosos of the Baroque, but he was also a gifted composer. His style was strongly influenced by Antonio Vivaldi and other Italian masters. He came from Alkmaar and began his career in Amsterdam, but from 1725 to 1730 he was Kapellmeister at the Cathedral of Our Lady in Antwerp. After that he went to England, where he worked with composers including Georg Friedrich Handel. Fesch’s oeuvre is combined with work by his contemporaries in Antwerp and put into historical perspective by the musicologist Rudolf Rasch.

Baroque Music on the Banks of the Scheldt: Theme Day 30.09.18
Antwerp made a significant contribution to world heritage in the Baroque period through Rubens, Van Dijck and Jordaens. The new music of the Baroque infiltrated the city in the work of music printers and travelling musicians and composers. For this theme day, AMUZ will focus the spotlights on several composers who worked in Antwerp and the Southern Netherlands. A lecture, lecture-performance and concert will tell a fascinating story from a chapter of lesser-known music history.

30 September, 2018 11:00 -- amuz

During the theme day ‘Baroque Music on the Banks of the Scheldt’, historian Stephanie Beghein will introduce you to the urban music scene in Antwerp and the Southern Netherlands in the 17th and 18th centuries. Beghein published her research into the music culture of the Southern Netherlands between 1650 and 1800 in 2013, along with Bruno Blondé, Eugeen Schreurs et al. All of the city’s social classes came into contact with music: music was present on the street, in church and at the theatre. Age-old traditions still lived on, even when Antwerp fell under the spell of the new, Baroque music.

Baroque Music on the Banks of the Scheldt: Theme Day 30.09.18
Antwerp made a significant contribution to world heritage in the Baroque period through Rubens, Van Dijck and Jordaens. The new music of the Baroque infiltrated the city in the work of music printers and travelling musicians and composers. For this theme day, AMUZ will focus the spotlights on several composers who worked in Antwerp and the Southern Netherlands. A lecture, lecture-performance and concert will tell a fascinating story from a chapter of lesser-known music history.

30 September, 2018 14:00 -- amuz

Joseph Hector Fiocco (1703-1741) was the eighth child of the Italian composer Pietro Antonio Fiocco, and a great composer and violinist in his own right. He came from Brussels, but worked as the Kapellmeister at the Cathedral of Our Lady in Antwerp until 1737. Then he succeeded Petrus Hercules Brehÿ (1673-1737) as the Kapellmeister of the Cathedral of St. Michael and St. Gudula in Brussels. As Kapellmeisters, they were responsible for the music at all the cathedral services, composing large numbers of masses and motets. This concert presents a few forgotten Baroque compositions from the Southern Netherlands that risk being lost in the folds of time. The Luxembourg ensemble cantoLX and Ensemble de la Chapelle Saint-Marc, led by Frank Agsteribbe, present a unique concert.

Baroque Music on the Banks of the Scheldt: Theme Day 30.09.18
Antwerp made a significant contribution to world heritage in the Baroque period through Rubens, Van Dijck and Jordaens. The new music of the Baroque infiltrated the city in the work of music printers and travelling musicians and composers. For this theme day, AMUZ will focus the spotlights on several composers who worked in Antwerp and the Southern Netherlands. A lecture, lecture-performance and concert will tell a fascinating story from a chapter of lesser-known music history.

30 September, 2018 15:00 -- amuz

The inventory of Bach’s possessions drawn up after his death listed a whole collection of keyboard instruments: four large and once smaller harpsichord, and a spinet. This abundance of keyboard instruments in his home surely contributed to Bach’s decision to write concertos for several harpsichords. J.S. Bach is the only composer to have written a concerto for four harpsichords, inspired by Vivaldi’s Concerto for four violins in B minor, opus 3 no. 10, RV 580. Bach enriched the monophonic violin parts, which he copied out in the part for the right hand, with parts for the left hand in pure harpsichord style. BachPlus, a quintessentially Belgian ensemble, has earned itself a solid reputation on the Baroque music scene with its refreshing perspective on Bach’s immense oeuvre.

07 October, 2018 15:00 -- amuz