– Competitive chamber music from the courts of the kings of France and Prussia
The exuberance and extravagance of the French court in the 18th century caused envy internationally. Fashionable were only those who could afford a similar lifestyle even in times of great poverty and economic crisis. Prussian king Frederick II could not free himself from this trend and had a castle in the style of Versailles built in Potsdam – Sanssouci. Both Frederick II and Louis XV employed the most famous composers and musicians of the time in their royal chapels comprising up to 200 musicians. Both of them pushed the establishment of opera houses in their respective capitals Berlin and Paris and celebrated their inaugurations during their life time. Marie-Antoinette the wife of Louis XVI was a harpist making the instrument the most fashionable of the period. Berlin could not be behind the fashion and employed at least four harpists in the royal chapel.
Société Lunaire proposes an exciting program of artistic rivalry: Virtuostic chamber music from the age of Enlightenment.
Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683-1764) – Ouverture from ‘Les Indes Galantes’
Eugène Godecharle (1742-1798) – op.4, Quartet II
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (1714-1788) – Quartet Wq 93
Ignaz Pleyel (1757-1831) – String Trio op.41, No.5
Carl Heinrich Graun (1704-1759) – Aria from ‘Montezuma’
Johann Christian Bach (1735-1782) – Flute Quartet op.19, No.2
Duration: 60 minutes without break
(with the possibility to extend to 75 or 90 minutes with break)
Société Lunaire 