Concert Spirituel II – “Mozart”
| October 30, 2021 | |
| 7:30 pm | |
| Vienna | |
| Minorite Church |
The Concert Spirituel (French for “sacred concert”) is the name given to one of the first public concert series that was groundbreaking for musical taste in France and ultimately throughout Europe. The concerts first began in 1725 and later concert series with the same name also took place in Vienna, London and elsewhere. Initially, the concerts took place on religious holidays to provide classical entertainment when other spectacles such as the opera or theatres were closed. Sacred music and Italian instrumental music, secular cantatas and several symphonies, including works by great international composers, were performed.
In a total of 1280 concerts in the history of the Concert Spirituel, works by around 500 composers such as Georg Philipp Telemann, Beethoven, Haydn, Salieri, Viotti, Rameaus and Mozart were performed. Already back then the Concerts spirituels were enthusiastically received by critics, particularly because their programme differed from that of all other concerts.
Leon Bosch has worked with the finest conductors for 30 years as a member of groups such as the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, Philharmonia and Hallé, he learnt the repertoire and conductor’s craft from inside the orchestra, and finally made the transition to the podium in 2015, when he left Academy of St Martin in the Fields and went to study in St Petersburg with Alexander Polishchuk. Since then he has conducted orchestras across the UK, Europe, India, South Africa and Mozambique.
During his playing career, he performed concertos around the world and served as a guest with ensembles such as the Lindsays, Brodsky Quartet and Zukerman Chamber Players.
Leon is committed to rediscovering neglected music, as well as expanding and diversifying the double bass repertoire, and has recorded 16 CDs of wide-ranging programmes, with more in planning.
Throughout his career he has worked with leading composers, and his latest project is to revive the sonatina form for a programme he will tour and record for Meridian Records in 2021. He also commissions chamber arrangements of well-known symphonic classics for his ensemble I Musicanti, and set up I Musicanti Publishing in order to distribute these works.
He is professor of double bass at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance in London and gives masterclasses in the US, Europe, South Africa and the Far East. He has also served as double bass coach for youth orchestras including the I, Culture Orchestra, National Youth String Orchestra, Miagi Orchestra and Buskaid. He has contributed to programmes on BBC Radio 3 and 4 and written for The Strad and Classical Music magazines.
Leon grew up in South Africa, the son of the political activist Jonas Fred Bosch, and spent time in a police cell for organising protests while at school. He left the apartheid regime behind to study at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester.
The Vienna Chamber Orchestra was founded in 1946 and established itself as one of the world’s leading chamber orchestras in the more than 70 years of its existence. The former principal conductor Carlo Zecchi and guest conductors such as Yehudi Menuhin and Sándor Végh were very significant partners of the orchestra. The internationally renowned reputation of the Vienna Chamber Orchestra is confirmed by its worldwide tours and regular appearances in almost all major European cities.
Programme
Wiener KammerOrchester
Leon Bosch, Dirigent
Mario Hossen – Violine
Marta Potulska – Viola
Liliana Kehayova – Violoncello
Venue
The Minorite Church is a Catholic church built in French Gothic style and is located at the center of Vienna’s historic city centre, just a few minutes’ walk away from the Hofburg. The so-called Minorites were Franciscans who founded the Minorite Monastery in Vienna in 1224. The church building was completed in 1350, as one of the first Gothic churches in Eastern Austria. Since 1784, the church has been owned by the Italian Congregation and has grown to become the cultural centre of the Italian Catholic community of Vienna. It is often referred to as the Italian National Church of Mary of the Snows. The striking saddle roof of the church rises above the silhouette of Vienna’s city centre and its “shot down“ tower is another striking characteristic of the building, dating back from the times of the Austro-Turkish wars. Since then, several alterations have taken place, the last major alteration being in the years around 1900, when the neo-Gothic annexes were built.
The Minorite Church in Vienna is one of the oldest and most artistically valuable churches in the city and provides a unique venue for classical concerts.
Date & start time: Saturday 30th October 2021, 7:30pm
Venue: Minorite Church (Minoritenkirche). Minoritenplatz 2A, 1010 Vienna
Price:29 EUR – 65 EUR