European Christmas Festival. Sinfonietta Rīga Christmas. Bach, Müthel, Haydn

Johann Gottfried Müthel, the last student of the Baroque grandmaster Johann Sebastian Bach, moved to Riga from his native Germany in 1753. He lived here over half of his life and became renowned as inimitable harpsichord virtuoso and innovative composer. The musical heritage of the gifted author, included in Latvia’s Cultural Canon, strikes a balance between the impulsivity of the Baroque and the orderliness of the Classical period, establishing itself also within the aesthetics of the Sturm und Drang movement.

Interpreted by the early music expert Ieva Saliete and lead by concert master Alexander Janiczek of Amsterdam’s Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century, Sinfonietta Rīga will perform Müthel’s Harpsichord Concerto, symbolically paired with his beloved teacher’s majestic Third Brandenburg Concerto. Fascinating musical links also lead to Johann Sebastian’s son Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach who in his turn inspired composers of the First Viennese School, including Joseph Haydn, whose London Symphony is a reverent bow to the talent of the 18th century masters.