Concertmaster Peter Hanson with members of the Festival Orchestra
J.S. Bach, Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 in G Major, BWV 1048
Antonio Vivaldi, Concerto in A Minor for Two Violins, RV 522
J.S. Bach, Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 in D Major, BWV 1050
Dongsok Shin, harpsichord
Antonio Vivaldi, Concerto No. 10 in B Minor for Four Violins, RV 580
On Monday nights 10/25 and 11/1, from 6:50 PM – 7:15 PM, please enjoy a free pre-concert performance by the Bach Festival Chorus conducted by Assistant Chorus Conductor Brendan Barker and Associate Conductor, Director of the Chorale and Chorus, Andrew Megill.
The Festival’s Baroque virtuosi are featured on the Monday main concerts, performing two of Bach’s Brandenburg Concerti, along with two Vivaldi classics for solo violins.
“This juxtaposition will create a Baroque concert of unprecedented energy and creativity,” said Paul Goodwin.
Bach’s Brandenburg Concerti are his greatest instrumental works and are filled with great variety and unique orchestration. Each concerto requires a different combination of instruments as well as very skilled soloists. Concerto No. 3 features three groups of strings in a lively musical conversation as well as brief individual solos. The final movement is an exhilarating blend of a fugue and a gigue.
The Concerto No. 5 is principally a concerto grosso for flute, violin and harpsichord. In particular, Bach gave the harpsichord dazzling music to perform and in the process, perhaps invented the modern keyboard concerto. The 5th Concerto is the perfect vehicle to feature Festival keyboardist Dongsok Shin’s artistry.
Vivaldi’s concerti for multiple violins are known for their vitality. Catchy melodies and energy form a perfect balance of beauty and virtuosity. Violinist Edwin Huizinga says that the Concerto for Four Violins, part of Vivaldi’s L’estro armonico series of 12 concerti, “sounds like a gorgeous conversation among best friends.” He also feels that the B-Minor concerto is the, “greatest Baroque composition ever written.”
Peter Hanson is a period instrument specialist and recording artist. He is in his 11th season as concertmaster of the Carmel Bach Festival Orchestra. He has performed with modern and period instrument including the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields and the London Symphony and served as concertmaster for Mstislav Rostropovich and the Philharmonia Orchestra as well as Sir John Eliot Gardiner’s Orchestre Revolutionaire et Romantique for more than 25 years appearing on nearly all its recordings and concerts.