Van Bach tot Händel met het Concertgebouworkest

Jan Willem de Vriend

A groundbreaking ballet suite about the elements, a lost virtuoso violin concerto by Bach, a symphonic rollercoaster ride, a wind battle by Handel… The eighteenth century produced sensational compositions. Passionate specialist Jan Willem de Vriend takes the Concertgebouw Orchestra on an adventure.

Rebel, Handel and Bach

In 1721, Jean-Féry Rebel wrote a ballet about the elements. Earth, water, air, and fire combine to form a resounding chaos at the beginning of the first movement. The subsequent dances are more conventional; they prepare us for the fiery Violin Concerto in D major, with which Johann Sebastian Bach challenged his idol Vivaldi. The score was lost and has been reconstructed centuries later. Alena Baeva is the ideal soloist for this virtuos virtuoso violin concerto. A remarkable Sinfonia by Bach is also performed: he added an unprecedented number of wind parts to a movement from the Third Brandenburg Concerto —with spectacular results. Fifty years later, his son Carl Philipp Emanuel was one of the most important and progressive composers of his generation. His Symphony in D major is a rollercoaster ride full of sharp turns past turbulent rhythms and strange harmonic twists. As if all that were not enough, we conclude with a work for double orchestra, in which Handel achieves remarkable spatial effects by pitting two wind sections (cori) against each other.