September 9, Sunday, 7 pm
St. Catherine’s Church, Vilniaus g. 30
Baroque Splash!
Suites by Telemann, Händel and Bach for orchestra
European Union Baroque Orchestra
Director Margaret Faultless, UK
Concertmaster Mechthild Karkow, Germany
Orchestral suites by the giants of the German high Baroque include some of the finest repertoire of this period. Telemann’s Water Music, written for the centenary for the Hamburg Admiralty, features popular dance forms of the 18th century with quirky, evocative, rather charming titles making audiences recall a colourful mythological world. Händel’s Water Music was famously premiered on a barge on the River Thames – 50 musicians performed the suite on one vessel, while King George I listened to the concert from another. Bach incorporated many dance forms into his four orchestral suites as well as exploring the conventions of the French ouverture.
The uniquely ephemeral collective that is the EU Baroque Orchestra auditions and selects completely new personnel every year. In this way, the best young Baroque musicians in Europe are left untouched by neither routine nor exhaustion – every one of their performances basks in an undimmed sense of discovery and enjoyment.