Amandine Beyer, conductor

• Georg Friedrich Händel: Suite No. 1 in F major, from Water Music, HWV 348
• Carl Friedrich Abel: Symphony No. 4 in C major, Op. 17

• Johann Christian Bach: Overture and Suite from Amadis de Gaula

TALKING WITH… Amandine Beyer, conductor
Sala Mozart, 7:45 p.m.

Tonight’s program journeys from the heart of the Baroque to the Classical era, allowing us to witness the aesthetic transformation of an entire period. Handel composed Water Music to reconcile with his patron, recently crowned King of England, after two years away. Also settled in London, Carl Friedrich Abel was born in Köthen in 1723, as Johann Sebastian Bach was concluding his stay there. The two families maintained a close relationship, further solidified when Carl Friedrich organized the Bach-Abel concerts in London together with Johann Christian Bach. Abel’s alcoholism cut short a brilliant career, though his Symphony No. 4 stands out, hinting at the formal perfection that would blossom fully in the Classical period. Like Abel, Johann Christian Bach was a Freemason and excelled as a composer of operas, including Amadis de Gaula, a milestone of the time.