Corelli XL

Maurice Steger, Hille Perl, Juan Sebastiàn Lima & Sebastian Wienand

Name: Corelli XL
Start: 2025-05-30T19:30:00
End: 2025-05-30T21:30:00
Location: Regentenbau, Rossini-Saal

Welcome to the Anniversary Program Celebrating 40 Years of Joy with the Recorder

At the heart of this concert is the superstar Corelli and the 40-year evolution his music underwent through his students and successors. XL here represents the number 40 in Roman numerals, and we celebrate the music of today, 40 years after the first Italian recorder tones graced the opening concert of the inaugural Recorder Festival Days in Darmstadt.

Meeting Point: London 1715

The Italians, in particular, flocked in large numbers to the Thames. Beyond flourishing opera productions, London also enjoyed a vibrant concert scene: music was enthusiastically performed during theater intermissions, in pubs, and at social gatherings. The visiting musicians were often virtuosos, composers, and teachers all in one. Barsanti, Castrucci, Dubourg, Dieupart, Loeillet, Paisible, and Sammartini brought their own compositions and created new works tailored to the taste of the English audience.

At this time, however, the real star on the island was the music of the Italian Arcangelo Corelli, already up to 50 years old. Corelli himself never set foot on English soil, yet his compositions achieved unparalleled fame and acclaim there. Musicians quickly realized that their adaptations of Corelli’s works found far greater success than their own pieces. Soon, they were all carrying variations and passaggi (ornamental passages) on Corellian themes, especially from his groundbreaking Sonatas op. 5 for violin and basso continuo.

In the following 40 years, a multitude of virtuosic adaptations of Corelli’s twelve sonatas emerged. The second part of the collection, featuring the secular sonate da camera, with its sequence of dance movements, particularly resonated with audiences.

This originally clear, straightforward, and easily comprehensible music transformed over time into one of the richest sources of English Baroque virtuosity. It is a beautiful example of the unique art of integrating contemporary trends and personal style into existing music to create something new: 40 years of development, fashion influences, and change in the music of the mid-18th century.

Works by Arcangelo Corelli and His Arrangers
Featuring compositions by Georg Friedrich Handel, Domenico Scarlatti, and Marin Marais.