The concert programme with the participation of Jarosław Thiel and the soloists of the Wrocław Baroque Orchestra includes works by leading Baroque composers: Antonio Vivaldi, George Frideric Handel and Johann Sebastian Bach, as well as Nicola Porpora, a lesser-known Italian author of operas, whose most famous student was Carlo Broschi known better as Farinelli – one of the great castrati in the history of music. 

The concert will open with Suite No. 6 in D major for solo cello BWV 1012 by Johann Sebastian Bach, belonging to the collection of six cello suites created in the years 1717-1723, when the composer was the kapellmeister in Köthen. The composition begins with a prelude followed by dances typical of a Baroque suite: Allemande, Courante, Sarabande, Gavotte and Gigue. These pieces were once little known and rarely performed, which changed when Pablo Casals, the world-famous Catalan cellist, decided to record them at the beginning of the 20th century.

The Concerto in G major for cello, strings and basso continuo is perhaps the most famous piece of this type in the works of Nicola Porpora. It was probably created in the years 1733-1736, when the artist headed the so-called Opera of the Nobility, supported by the Prince of Wales – Frederick. The melodic cello part is foregrounded, although at times it is treated on a par with other strings and basso continuo. That evening, Sonata in C major op. 1 no. 7, HWV 365 for recorder and basso continuo from the Solos for a German Flute a Hoboy or Violin with a Thorough Bass for the Harpsichord or Bass Violin by George Frideric Handel, which was created at the beginning of the 18th century. Interestingly, the work contains borrowings from other works by Handel – the third movement contains references to the Oboe Sonata in F major, and the fifth to his opera Alessandro. In the finale, the musicians will perform the dynamic Concerto in G major for cello, strings and basso continuo by the composer of the most beloved Four Seasons – Antonio Vivaldi.