Baroque Revelry

Nothing was modest or anodyne about Baroque Europe. This wasn’t a neat and pretty world; it was ultra-vibrant. Its paintings and plays ribald and florid, its music pulsing with lives that could be sordid as much as sacred. In this exciting collaboration with Belvoir Theatre we explore the music and the musicians who created this vibrant sound world.

Richard Tognetti directs an orchestra of ACO soloists, featuring music by Heinrich Biber, whom some have called the musical equivalent of Hieronymus Bosch, storyteller Francesca Caccini, and of course the devilish Tartini.

To fully appreciate this today requires a multi-sensory experience, an immersion that all but recreates the spirit of the Baroque. But be careful: the vividness of Baroque life may come as a shock to our 21st-century sensibilities!