{oh!} Orkiestra (Martyna Pastuszka - artistic director):
Martyna Pastuszka, violin I
Marzena Biwo, violin II
Dymitr Olszewski, viola
Krzysztof Firlus, viola da gamba
Vladimir Waltham, cello
Anna Firlus, harpsichord
Erazem Izidor Grafenauer Grof, lute
Jarosław Kopeć, percussion
Henry Purcell:
Suite „Distress’d Innocence or The Princess of Persia”
Ouverture - Air - Slow Air-Air – Hornpipe – Rondeau – Air – Minuet
François Couperin:
Sonata „La Sultanne”
Michel Corrette:
Concert Le Phénix pour quatre parties de basse
Allegro – Adagio - Allegro
Andreas Anton Schmelzer:
Sonata „Die Türkenschlacht bei Wien 1683”
Michel Corrette/Jean-Philippe Rameau:
Concerto Comique no. 25 „Les Sauvages et la Furstemberg”
Les Sauvages – Andante – La Furstemberg
Violinist Martyna Pastuszka was born in Silesia, Poland. Over the years she has established herself as one of the most compelling musicians of her generation performing throughout Europe as a soloist, concertmaster, chamber musician and orchestra leader. In 2012, she founded {oh!} Orkiestra, ensemble specialising with historically informed performance with which she appears regularly at renowned festivals and concert halls. {oh!} Orkiestra’s particular interest focuses on opera and oratorio repertoire.
--
The programme contains works written under the influence of encountered cultures, under the admiration of their distinctiveness, tradition and mythology. It is difficult to find sounds of the Orient here, as if the composers were not looking for ways to reflect the sonorities of the Orient, but took the opportunity to draw the listeners’ attention to the tales coming from the New – to the fabulousness of the East. Concerto Phoenix by Michel Corrette (1707–1795), Sonata La Sultanne by François Couperin (1668–1733) and Concerto no. 25 by Corrette and Rameau (1683–1764) are assigned to this category of ‘amusement’.
Editor’s Note: The Concertos got the title ‘Comique’ because they were written for performance during intermissions at the Opèra-Comique in Paris; Concerto no. 25 parodies ‘Air de sauvages’ from Rameau’s Les Indes galantes, as well as the famous theme ‘La Furstemberg’, attributed to Purcell, J.-F. Benaut, and other composers.
Henry Purcell’s (1659–1695) Suite, along with A.A. Schmelzer’s (1653–1701) Sonata use the presence of stories and the presence of other cultures for political purposes. Elkanah Settle’s tragedy Distress'd Innocence, which explores the theme of violence against a woman as a means of degrading her husband’s position, fits into the mainstream literature of the Restoration period in England and seeks to illuminate a problem widely present in European lands. By moving the action thousands of kilometres away, the two authors, Settle and Purcell, make the reflection less intrusive and thus possible. Schmelzer’s Sonata clearly incites to fight for maintenance of European identity. It recalls the moment of victory over the Ottoman army at Vienna in 1683.
--
Photo (c) Magdalena Hałas
