Nowadays, we are mainly familiar with improvisation as an elementary form of expression in jazz. However, within classical music, there were also periods of time, in which improvisation played an important role, for example in the Baroque era. Although the musicological term used to describe the extensive ornamentation techniques, melodic improvisations over ostinato bass figures and the execution of the basso continuo would not strictly be "improvisation", but rather something along the lines of "fantasising" or "preluding", the implicitness of improvisatory techniques in baroque music and the associated demands on the musicians' improvisation skills are evident.
The musicians of Stegreif take this connecting element between jazz and baroque as an opportunity to take a modern, musical look at Georg Friedrich Händel's (1685-1759) works - from the traditional Concerto Grosso in G minor (Op. 6 No. 6, HWV 324: III) to the famous Rinaldo aria “Lascia ch'io pianga" (HWV 7) and Handel's oratorio Israel in Egypt (HWV 54). The result is a chamber music concert performance for 7 musicians with different artistic backgrounds, each with different approaches to baroque music and the art of improvisation. The performance is created on the spot by the musicians under the musical direction of Alistair Duncan, and is played by heart, freely moving in the performance space.
Picture: Lucie Schulze
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