Ivánka bácsi

Attendind a performance of Messiah is always a thrilling experience, but it is especially so when Handel’s work – which has become a national classic in England – is performed by a dedicated ensemble like the legendary German flagship of the international early-music scene: the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, now with over 44 years of history behind it. The storied chamber orchestra will perform with one of the world’s finest mixed choirs, the RIAS Kammerchor, which also hails from Berlin and was founded in the years immediately following the Second World War.

What more could we want from any performing artist than mastery of their instrument, exceptional musical talent, an original, high-quality and entertaining performance style, and the ability to establish a special rapport with fellow musicians?

Mozart was insatiably in love with life. He embraced everything considered “sinful”: wine, cards, billiards. And his passion extended to musical ornaments: flowery acciaccaturas, trills, cadences others dared not risk, and chromatic runs. But there can be no doubt the main objects of his desire were women. He dedicated several of his masterpieces to one or other of his lovers, who were thus immortalised by these concert and opera arias.