Amsterdam, Potsdam, Graz, Leipzig

Purcell, Steffani, Draghi… The baroque summer is in full swing, from Amsterdam to Potsdam, via Graz and Leipzig.

All over Purcell by Il Gardellino in Amsterdam

A standing ovation and a full house at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam for Il Gardellino Orchestra and their All over Purcell concert. The programme included the Lamento (from Dido and Aeneas), Cold Song (from King Arthur) and excerpts from The Fairy Queen.

With Sarah Connolly, Alison Lau, Arturo den Hartog, Il Gardellino Orchestra and Korneel Bernolet.

**Steffani’s Orlando generoso at Potsdam Sanssouci**

Inspired by Ariosto’s Orlando furioso (1516), Orlando generoso is the first Italian opera to portray Orlando’s descent into amorous madness. First performed in 1691 by Agostino Steffani at the court of Hanover, the opera returns this summer at the Orangery in Sanssouci Park, Potsdam, in a production by Jean Renshaw and under the musical direction of Dorothee Oberlinger and her Ensemble 1700.

With Terry Wey, Hélène Walter, Natalia Kawalek, Shira Patchornik, Morten Grove Frandsen, Florian Götz, Gabriel Diaz, the Ensemble 1700 and Dorothee Oberlinger.

**Draghi’s Das verwunschene Glück in Graz**

In Graz, the Styriarte Festival opened at Schloss Eggenberg (celebrating its 400th anniversary this year) with the German version of the opera-ballet Das verwunschene Glück (Gl’incantesimi disciolti) by court composer Antonio Draghi. The work was premiered in 1673 in Graz for the wedding of Emperor Leopold I, who contributed an aria of his own.

With Sophie Daneman, Johanna Falkinger, Anna Manske, Markus Schäfer, Julian Habermann, Dietrich Henschel and Michael Hell.

The 2025 Bach Medal for oboist Marcel Ponseele in Leipzig

Belgian oboist Marcel Ponseele was awarded the 2025 Bach Medal of the City of Leipzig during the Bachfest Leipzig. The medal was presented by Mayor Burkhard Jung and Peter Wollny, Director of the Bach Archive: “Johann Sebastian Bach composed no fewer than 216 solo works for the oboe. It is almost surprising that we have never before awarded the Bach Medal to an oboist. Today, we honour a man who is one with his instrument.” Ponseele later performed Bach’s Passionsoratorium with Il Gardellino Orchestra.

With Il Gardellino Orchestra and Marcel Ponseele.