Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra to honor Galileo with authentic period music

There may be many ways to honor Galileo Galilei’s (1564-1642) contributions to the study of the heavens, and listening to classical music under the stars seems to be a very romantic and fitting one.

In fact, Galileo was a true music lover, with his father being a respected lute player-composer and his brother and nephew both famous musicians of their times.

Since 2009, the 400th anniversary of Galileo’s improvement of telescopes, Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra from Canada has been creating a sensation in the music scene by performing classical music in a very historically informed way against a backdrop of the cosmos. Musicians, who know the notes by heart, move along with the shapes of constellations following different images of stars provided by NASA and noted Canadian astrophotographer Allen Dyer showing on the stage and ceiling.

On Nov. 24 at 4 p.m., the orchestra will hold its first Korean “Galileo Project” at the Goyang Aramnuri Concert Hall in Gyeonggi Province.

In a concert consisting of four large themes, the orchestra will revive the romantic yet somehow “scientific” aspect of baroque music.

To explain Galileo, works by Vincenzo Galilei, the astronomer’s father, and Michelangelo Galilei, Galileo’s brother, will be performed along with an aria from “Orfeo” by Monteverdi, Galileo’s friend.

The concert will also attempt to reenact “The 1719 Dresden Festival of the Planets” held to honor Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn, which were defined as parts of the solar system at that time. At the 18th century festival, Rameau’s “Entree de Jupiter” from “Hippolyte et Aricie,” “Entre de Mercure” from “Platee” and “Entress de Venus” from “Les Surprises de L’Amour”; Handel’s “Allegro” from Concerto grosso in D major, Op.3; Telemann’s “Allegro” from Concerto for 4 violins in D major; Lully’s “Air pour les Suivants de Saturne” from “Phaeton”; and Weiss’ “Allegro” from Concerto for lute in C major were staged.

The program will conclude with Bach’s sinfonia, “Wie Schon Leuchtet der Morgenstern,” which depicts the mystery of the universe and praise for humanity.

“I am certain that the audience will never have seen anything like it! Because there are no music stands, the orchestra can move around on the stage and in the concert hall. This allows for more contact among the musicians and with the audience. It really transforms the concert experience. There is as much to look at as to hear and every musician is featured at some point, which is very interesting for the audience,” said Jeanne Lamon, artistic director of the orchestra, in an email interview with The Korea Herald.

An additional wow factor will come from the narration by noted actor Chung Dong-hwan. The stage-and-TV actor of 44 years will narrate excerpts from pieces by Shakespeare, Greek mythology and others.

“I don’t think there has been any event of this kind in Korea and the orchestra, originally famous for being one of the world’s finest historically informed performance orchestras, will offer the audience a different experience,” Park Min-kyoung, spokeswoman of the Aramnuri, said.

“Tafelmusik is a small orchestra of about 17 musicians, each one of which is a gifted and committed musician. Tafelmusik has been playing music of the baroque era on period instruments for the past 34 years. During that time, our audiences have grown tremendously. I believe that this is the most dynamic way to perform and hear this wonderful repertoire. This music is earthy and fiery and that can only be captured adequately on the instruments for which it was written. I think that Tafelmusik’s sound is a result of the combination of all these great musicians interacting and making music together,” Lamon said.

For more information about the concert visit www.artgy.or.kr or call 1577-7766.

By Bae Ji-sook (baejisook@heraldcorp.com)