Apollo & Dionysus

The environment of the Roman palaces of the high nobility and the church dignitaries associated with it contributed to the rich development of instrumental music in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. As there were no regular opera performances in Rome in the 17th century, musicians and composers found work with the wealthy nobility. The most prominent nobles held public concerts called academies in their mansions every week, at which the latest works of the masters active in Rome were performed, alongside musical pieces of other composers. Queen Christina I of Sweden was one of the main patrons, from 1677 Cardinal Benedetto Pamphili held academies in his palace, and ten years later, musical productions also took place in the palace of Cardinal Pietro Ottoboni. At the beginning of the 18th century, the patronage of musical life was taken over primarily by the exiled Polish Queen Dowager, Marie Casimire, and the Marquis (later Prince) Francesco Maria Ruspoli. For this evening, the Terezian Hall of the Břevnov Monastery will be transformed into a music salon in the palace of Marquis Ruspoli or Cardinal Ottoboni, featuring masterpieces by their protégés Georg Frideric Handel and Arcangelo Corelli. The programme will be complemented by the works of their contemporaries Francesco Geminiani and Alessandro Scarlatti. The Collegium Marianum ensemble, under the direction of Jana Semerádová, will present solo and trio sonatas in various instrumental combinations with both precision and playfulness, concluding with a virtuoso concerto.