Boccherini and contemporaries

The Muziekgebouw and the Cello Biennale are bringing one of the greatest and most versatile cellists of our time to Amsterdam: Nicolas Altstaedt. Whether he is playing Bach’s cello suites or performing with lutenist Thomas Dunford and harpsichordist Jonathan Cohen. Tonight, Altstaedt enters into a musical dialogue with Cohen’s ensemble Arcangelo.

It’s not a first. With Arcangelo, Altstaedt previously recorded the complete cello concertos by Boccherini and Carl Philipp Emanuel, Bach’s son. These 18th-century composers were already attuned to the cello’s remarkable expressive range. Arcangelo’s energetic performance of Haydn’s Trauer-Symphony will conclude the evening. Haydn expressed his wish for the Adagio of that symphony to be performed at his funeral.  However, his death during Napoleon’s invasion of Austria likely prevented this from occurring.