First Choice: Heinichen: Concerti grandi

First Choice: Heinichen: Concerti grandi

The fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 not only opened the border to the West for seventeen million East Germans; it also allowed art lovers and researchers to gain access to the rich cultural treasures housed in Central European museums and libraries. As director of Musica Antiqua Koln, Reinhard Goebel was constantly on the lookout for musical treasures from the Baroque for his ensemble to perform. So he did not mingle with the souvenir hunters along the length of the Berlin Wall but headed straight on the treasure trail to Dresden. It was here in the 18th century that culture had enjoyed a golden age unprecedented in Germany thanks to the tireless patronage of Augustus the Strong and his successor: an active building programme turned the Saxon capital into the Florence on the Elbe immortalized in the wonderful canvases by Bernardo Bellotto (Canaletto). In addition, the royal residence with its venerable court orchestra and the opera house that was opened on the Zwinger in 1719 were centres of Baroque music, attracting musicians from all over Europe keen to work at the court of the electors of Saxony, who were also kings of Poland. Even Johann Sebastian Bach gazed wistfully at Dresden from his Kantors position in Leipzig and in 1736 was proud to acquire the title of Court Composer to the Electors of Saxony and Kings of Poland.
The Saxon Regional Library in Dresden finally became generally accessible again in 1990, and it was with genuine delight that Goebel, a tireless researcher, buried himself in its treasures, soon bringing several to light. The Concerti grandi by Johann David Heinichen, who was born near Weissenfels in 1683 and was court Kapellmeister in Dresden from 1716 until his death in 1729, were just one of the works that Goebel rediscovered in Dresden; they proved to be altogether outstanding. Until then Heinichen had received no more than a few lines in dictionaries of music, and although the second half of the 20th century saw an awakening interest in the treasures of Baroque music, his first-rate compositions remained hidden beneath layers of dust in Dresdens archives. If you want to understand the festive nature of the culture in Augustus Dresden, with its uncommonly peaceable German kind of absolutism, you need to hear the concertos of Johann David Heinichen: practical and straightforward, unusually energetic and magnificent, sometimes lovely, but never losing sight of their ceremonial purpose by becoming unduly self-referential or self-infatuated, they reflect their age and also mirror that self-confident and grandiose love of life that inspired Augustus the Strong and his son and that was also communicated to their subjects, even today justifying a certain feeling of superiority on the part of art-loving Saxons in the face of Prussians committed to a duelling-corps mentality Reinhard Goebels enthusiasm at his discovery is palpable

Detmar Huchting
Country USA
Brand Deutsche Grammophon
Manufacturer Deutsche Grammophon
Binding Audio CD
ItemPartNumber 10470419
Model 26354083
ReleaseDate 2013-04-02
UnitCount 1
UPCs 028947911104
EANs 0028947911104

Country	USA
Brand	Deutsche Grammophon
Manufacturer	Deutsche Grammophon
Binding	Audio CD
ItemPartNumber	10470419
Model	26354083
ReleaseDate	2013-04-02
UnitCount	1
UPCs	028947911104
EANs	0028947911104

First Choice: Heinichen: Concerti grandi

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