12 Aug - 28 Oct
Antonio Vivaldi
The Four Seasons
Fri & Sat 8:30pm | St. Stephen’s
In this concert of Vivaldi's Four Seasons at Vienna's St. Stephen's Cathedral, listen to the gentle winds and violent thunderstorms, bird voices and the barking of a dog, the hunting and a farmer's dance that Vivaldi draws on the scores. Vivaldi knew like no other how to create musical images that stimulate the imagination and captivate the audience.
Where would it be more fitting to perform Vivaldi's "The Four Seasons" - a parable of life and death - than in St. Stephen's Cathedral, where his funeral festivities were celebrated after the composer's death in 1741? In 1740, a poor Vivaldi arrived in Vienna, with high hopes for patronage from the Emperor. Only ten months after his arrival, Vivaldi passed away and was therefore buried in Vienna.
J. S. Bach's Violin Concerto in E major compliments the programme, taking Vivaldi's concertos as a model. It therefore contains hints of Vivaldi on the one hand, and Bach's unmistakable musical spirit with virtuoso solos on the other. The dialogue between the strings and the soloist creates an entertaining and lively concert experience that wonderfully rounds off Vivaldi's Four Seasons.
Aside from playing in orchestras, the musicians of the Harmonia Ensemble Vienna perform with great efficacy and pleasure as a chamber ensemble, always with the aim of broadening their musical abilities and horizons. The musicians thus followed an old tradition, as is customary with established orchestras such as the Vienna Philharmonic.
