Series of three concerts
Bach and Beyond is a series of three concerts presented by Pearls in Baroque, directed by harpsichordist Noriko Amano, each focusing on Bach and another baroque composer.
Four Seasons and more is played on Friday 15 December 2023 in ’t Huis te Poort in Schiedam, including a Harpsichord Concerto by Bach and The Four Seasons by Vivaldi, featuring the fantastic baroque violinist Ryo Terakado.
On Sunday 11 February, an intimate Winter Matinee at Het Concertgebouw will follow with a Clavecin Concert by Rameau and two sonatas for violin and harpsichord by Bach, played profoundly by violinist Sayuri Yamagata, gambist Mieneke van der Velden, members of the Bach Society.
The season ends on Thursday 30 May with a Coffee Cantate in an animated atmosphere that tells the story of how coffee conquered Europe in the time of baroque with Bach’s Kaffee.
Supported by:
Sunday 11 February 2024 | 14:15 h
Winter Matinee with Bach and Rameau
Thursday 30 May 2024 | 20:15 h
Coffee Cantate with Bach and Bernier
© Janko Duinker
© Dorota Kozerska
Previous concert: “A musical feast!”
“I’d had the pleasure of seeing Noriko perform on a few occasions, but never before with her entire Pearls in Baroque Chamber Orchestra – an ensemble of top musicians. Tokyo-born Noriko Amano is the artistic director of Pearls in Baroque, a platform she founded for baroque music and art. In the revered Recital Hall of the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, they staged a superb programme on Sunday afternoon to a large, appreciative audience and I was among them. What an inspiring atmosphere! In Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto no. 5, Noriko’s harpsichord solo part was completely enthralling. I felt mesmerized by the 18th century music, imagining the grandeur of the courts of Louis XIV in Versailles! Noriko plays her harpsichord built in Paris in 1998 – a copy of a French 18th century harpsichord. The icing on the cake was when 15-year-old Emily van Baaren, herself a talented violinist, joined on stage, showing us what this music was written for as she danced a graceful baroque gigue during the movement from Les Nations by François Couperin. The entire concert, musically and visually, was truly an uplifting experience.”
Valerie Sheppard
Musicians
Noriko Amano
Harpsichord (clavecimbel)
© Lila Poppy Geurts
Ryo Terakado
Solo baroque violin
Ivan Iliev
Baroque violin
© Maaike Eijkman
Yoshiko Morita
Baroque Viola
Mieneke van der Velden
Viola da gamba
Maggie Urquhart
Violone / Contrabass
© Annelies van der Vegt
Richte van der Meer
Baroque cello / Viola da gamba
Sayuri Yamagata
Solo baroque violin
© Dorota Kozerska
Noyuri Hazama
Baroque violin
Emily van Baaren
Baroque dance