The top post I encountered as I opened the blog today brought a smile to my face, and not just because it showed progress on a project. The painting the
Baroque Project team chose for their blog is one I liked so much when I saw it in the
Gemäldegalerie in Berlin, I took a picture of it myself. One feature of the work to be noted is how the many candles and the chandelier illuminate various parts of the room. The flute player is Frederick the Great of Prussia himself—so the player is the host, in this case. Would the Lawrence Baroque Ensemble allow the host of a concert to participate, should s/he be qualified (or feel qualified…) to do so? If I recall correctly, the man playing the piano (is that even a piano?) is Frederick the Great's flute teacher,
Johann Joachim Quantz.
Thanks for your post! Yes, Quantz was the Emperor's teacher. I've actually been to Schloß Sansoucci in Potsdam which is the setting of this painting. That is why I chose it!
ReplyDeleteI think that musician participation in the concert beyond just playing would definitely be great. I think this would fit with educating our audience about the history behind the music and why its important to preserve that.
Also, a note on Quantz: he was quite an interesting person....I read in the forward of his treatise "On Playing the Flute" that he once challenged someone to a flute duel, the task being a marathon performance of the Telemann flute fantasias. Pretty awesome. I feel like our group could have all kinds of interesting performance ideas in addition to just traditional concerts. Duels could be epic. haha.