Italian baroque music in the Grand Hall

Embark on a musical voyage to Venice as the NDR Vokalensemble, under the baton of Klaas Stok, closes its season with a programme of exquisite Italian Baroque works. Joined by the award-winning Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, they perform works by Antonio Vivaldi and his Venetian contemporaries Antonio Lotti and Antonio Caldara – three famous sons of Venice in the Baroque era. Music for the soul!

NDR Vokalensemble

Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin

director Klaas Stok

Antonio Lotti
Dixit Dominus for Soloists, Choir and Orchestra

Antonio Vivaldi
Magnificat for Soloists, Choir and Orchestra, RV 610

Antonio Caldara
Gloria (German premiere)

xplain the fact that three Venetians named Antonio all rose to international fame around the same time? Antonio Lotti, Antonio Caldara and Antonio Vivaldi, still world-famous to this day. Born and taught in Venice, the musical heart of the Baroque era, these three composers became some of the city‘s most important exports. Even greats such as Johann Sebastian Bach studied their works, while Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart borrowed more than a few musical ideas from them for his own compositions.

Antonio Lotti not only brought Italian opera to Dresden in the early 18th century, but as an organist and later Kapellmeister at St. Mark’s Basilica, he also excelled in sacred music. His »Dixit Dominus« is a magnificent work, rich in intricate contrapuntal singing and jubilant choruses accompanied by trumpet fanfares. Antonio Vivaldi’s hymn of praise »Magnificat« is also composed in a style full of contrasts. Antonio Caldara’s »Gloria«, on the other hand, unfolds with the calm majesty of a sunrise. Its restrained strings at the outset gradually swell into dazzling rays of sound, culminating as the voices join to praise the glory of God: »Gloria in excelsis Deo!«