"Music from the Court of Dresden": Sunday, February 11, 2018 at 4pm, French Church du St. Esprit, 109 E. 60th St. NYC. Tickets $20/$15.
Ensemble Leonarda explores baroque music played at the Court of Dresden. Here, Casey Ann Reinke explains why you should be intrigued...
<<Dresden. No, not just fine china. The court of Dresden & music. Where do we begin? Dresden was the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany, near the border of the Czech Republic (remember this for later). Augustus II nicknamed "The Strong" (a.k.a. known as Friedrich Augustus I Elector of Saxony) caused quite a stir when he converted to Catholicism in 1694 in order to become King of Poland. A patron of the arts, composers, instrumentalists, and singers flocked to Dresden to hear and to be heard. These included Bohemian composers Jan Zelenka, Johann Benda, Frantisek Tuma, and Biber. Heinrich Biber, not Justin. [I say Bohemia and you think "Rhapsody", but Bohemia is the westernmost and biggest historical part of what is now the Czech Republic].
Telemann, Handel & Bach also visited Dresden. The court orchestra featured such musical talent as violinist Pisandel (who'd studied w/ Torelli & had met Vivaldi); Quantz, the most outstanding flutist of his time; Hasse whose passion was opera, and others.
There's a whole lot more to discover (and hear!) >> -C.A.Reinke