On the baroque night of the Bridging Europe series, the Budapest Festival Orchestra's baroque ensemble will play German baroque music featuring, and under the direction of, Midori Seiler, who was born in Osaka to a Japanese mother and a Bavarian father, but grew up in Salzburg and now lives in Berlin. Seiler is herself, as a person, a "bridge between cultures”. In the same way, we see a bridge between cultures in the person of Georg Muffat (1653-1704), who was born in France but was of Scottish descent. Muffat lived in the court of the Sun King, studied under Lully, and in Italy during the 1680s met Corelli, who he greatly admired. He worked in Prague and Salzburg, and then from 1690 until his death served as Kapellmeister to the bishop of Passau. His collections of suites Florilegium primum and Florilegium secundum ('First and second bouquets'), originating from the period between 1695 and 1698, clearly shows the interaction between different European musical styles. His Armonico tributo collection, which appeared in 1682, is a series of sonatas (or more properly, concerto grossi revealing the influence of Corelli and Lully).

Händel was essentially a "one-man European bridge”, too, since he spent part of his career in Italy, where he both soaked up Italian music and wrote his youthful works, before settling in London to become one of the greatest figures of 18th century English music. With its innovative style elements, his op. 6, a series consisting of 12 concerto grossi, is considered by musicologists to already point the way toward the classic symphonic music of his period. The three arias played after the concerto are from Händel's most popular operas. These are beautiful bravura pieces requiring exceptional virtuosity, allowing singers of opera from the baroque period to display their skills, which the audience can enjoy with the operatic gestures faithful to the era.

Presented by: Budapest Festival Orchestra, Palace of Arts