Oratorio by Giovanni Buonaventura Viviani
(first performance in recent times)
The reputation of the Tyrolean royal seat as a centre of Baroque opera under Archduke Ferdinand Karl and Anna de’ Medici attracted the violin virtuoso Giovanni Buonaventura Viviani to Innsbruck in 1656. He was one of the “welsche Musici”, an elite ensemble that performed at the theatre under the direction of Antonio Cesti and also played at court on various occasions. From 1672 to 1676, Giovanni Buonaventura Viviani, a musician from Florence in Tuscany, directed the “Imperial Court Music in Innsbruck” established by Emperor Leopold I after the extinction of the Tyrolean Habsburg line. In the years that followed, Viviani enjoyed success as an opera and oratorio composer in Italy. His oratorio “Abramo in Egitto”, which was performed in Modena in 1692 and has survived in Naples, is a real discovery, a masterpiece that is being performed in our concert for the first time in recent times. In their delicacy and virtuosity, Viviani’s works clearly point in the direction of the High Baroque. “Abramo in Egitto” dates from Viviani’s mature period and testifies to the composer’s rich experience in the field of Baroque opera. Viviani was a very innovative composer: in the field of instrumental music, he was one of the first to propagate the modern genre of the trio sonata, he played with Corelli and had a significant influence on this perfecter of high baroque instrumental art.
Bonus: 18.15 pre-concert