Grandeur de Baroque
Pearls in Baroque, under the direction of harpsichordist Noriko Amano, presents a series of three concerts in the Kleine Zaal, each focusing on different Baroque composers. Pearls in Baroque represents the ultimate in Baroque music, offering visually stunning, authentic performances by top musicians of well-known and lesser-known highlights from the Baroque repertoire, featuring Baroque dance and magnificent costumes.
The season began on December 8 with a festive Christmas Gala, featuring works by Goldberg, Corelli, Couperin, and Vivaldi. This captivating opening set a beautiful and evocative tone for the rest of the season. On Sunday, March 16, the composers Joseph and Michael Haydn where the focus, along with Bach’s Third Orchestral Suite. The season concludes on June 7 with a concert dedicated to Purcell and French composers such as Lully, Couperin, and Rameau.
Saturday 7 June 2025, 20:15 h
Het Concertgebouw, Kleine Zaal
The French Connection of Purcell
Purcell, Couperin, d’Anglebert, Rameau
Purcell was a popular composer of welcome songs for royal guests. He composed the anthem I was Glad for the coronation of William and Mary in 1689 and played the organ during their coronation. His work shows an interesting fusion of the old Elizabethan choral tradition with French and Italian influences. The dance-like, elegant forms in his music are typically French, reflecting the far-reaching influence of Lully, court composer to Louis XIV.
Also on the program are D’Anglebert, a contemporary of Lully, with a transcription for solo harpsichord of Lully’s opera Passacaille d’Armide, François Couperin with his Concert instrumental sous le titre d’Apothéose à la mémoire immortelle de l’incomparable Monsieur de Lully, and finally Rameau’s Fourth Harpsichord Concerto.
Works
Lully/D’Anglebert
Passacaille (from ‘Armide’)
Purcell
Sonate nr. 3 in d minor, Z 792
Suite nr. 6 in D major, Z 667
Suite nr. 7 in d minor, Z 668
Sonate nr. 6 in g minor, Z 807
(from Ten Sonata’s in Four Parts, Z 802-811)
F. Couperin
L’Apothéose de Lully
Musicians
Noriko Amano
Harpsichord (clavecimbel)
© Lila Poppy Geurts
Sayuri Yamagata
Solo baroque violin
© Dorota Kozerska
Noyuri Hazama
Baroque violin
Mike Fentross
Lute (theorbo)
Stefan Woudenberg
Viola da gamba