Evento

Bach at Sanssouci: Evening Music at the Court of Frederick the Great

This festival benefit concert is inspired by Johann Sebastian Bach's historic 1747 visit to Sanssouci to participate in one of Frederick the Greats famous musical evenings. This visit resulted in the composition of Bach's masterpiece 'A Musical Offering', which will be featured in a new performance version by Staunton Music Festival artistic director Carsten Schmidt. The program will also include sonatas by composers present at the historic event: Johann Joachim Quantz, Frederick the Great himself, and Bach's son Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, who will be represented by recently-discovered keyboard music prepared for publication by renowned C.P.E.Bach scholar Pamela Fox. The program will be performed on period instruments by Colin St. Martin (flute), Gesa Kordes (violin), James Wilson (cello), and Carsten Schmidt (harpsichord and fortepiano). In keeping with the festive nature of this event, the bar will serve complimentary wine and beer to ticket holders beginning one hour prior to the concert, and dessert will be served afterward.