Orpheus Baroque – Berlin in the depth of emotions

Johann Sebastian Bach was prolific – not only when it came to composition: he had 20 children, several of whom also became composers. Here, we hear some Baroque works by some of these siblings. In the first half of Johann Sebastian’s life, Berlin was not yet the centre that it ultimately became, but connections to Berlin existed, which was even more so the case with his sons.

The son who ultimately became the most important was Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach – who was in fact more famous than his father during his lifetime. We hear his expressive Harpsichord Concerto in E major. We also hear symphonies by Wilhelm Friedemann Bach, who composed in his father’s Baroque style, and Johann Christian Bach, who considered his father old-fashioned and preferred to write in a style known as galant rococo.

In addition, we hear a colourful opera overture by Carl Heinrich Graun, who was Germany’s most important composer of Italian opera at the time, and a harpsichord concerto by Georg Benda, who was from Bohemia in what is now the Czech Republic. Both Graun and Benda are included in the so-called Berlin School, which also included the Bach sons, led by Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach.

Orpheus Baroque is led here by Italian Francesco Corti, an award-winning Baroque specialist who works with the world’s top ensembles, including Les Musiciens du Louvre, Bach Collegium Japan and Les Talens Lyriques. In 2021, he led Handel’s Agrippina at Drottningholm Palace Theatre. Artistic directors of Orpheus Baroque are the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic’s solo cellist, Johannes Rostamo, as well as concertmaster and Baroque violinist Elin Gabrielsson, a member, among other ensembles, of Italian Europa Galante.