Palace Concerts
Prelude/ +Bach
Le Concert des Nations
Jordi Savall conductor
Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741)
Concerto for four violins, violoncello obligatto and strings in B minor, RV 580 (L’estro armonico, op. 3 nº 10. 1711)
Soloists: Manfredo Kraemer, David Plantier, Mauro Lopes, Guadalupe del Moral (violins)
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Concerto for harpsichord and strings No. 1 in D minor, BWV 1052 (1738)
Solista: Luca Guglielmi (harpsichord)
Suite No. 2 in B minor for transverse flute and strings, BWV 1067 (1738-39)
Soloist: Charles Zebley (transverse flute)
Concert without intermission
A Battle of Styles
Jordi Savall returns to Granada with his splendid baroque orchestra, Le Concert des Nations, for a program in which the two great national styles of the early 18th century –French and Italian– confront each other in a very special way. Vivaldi's Concerto for Four Violins is one of the most extraordinary works of its kind. Bach liked it so much that he transcribed it for four keys, just like we could enjoy it at last year’s edition of the Festival. By then, the German composer was already a dedicated admirer of the Venetian and his concertos (such as the BWV 1052 for harpsichord) would follow the tripartite model enshrined by Vivaldi. The dance suite was the French genre par excellence, but the Germans adopted it without hesitation. In the well-known Suite that will be heard today Bach uses a solo flute, masterfully merging the principles of the suite with those of the concerto, that is, fusing French and Italian essences in one piece.
