Emmanuel Pahud, the Berliner Philharmoniker’s principal flautist, celebrates the 300th anniversary of Frederick the Great’s birth with a concert recorded in the Royal Theatre of Potsdam’s Neues Palais, one of the architectural gems erected by the Prussian king within the World Heritage palace ensemble of Sanssouci. Not only was Frederick an eminent ruler and philosopher, he was also a passionate flautist, a talented composer and patron of music, who appointed to his court such renowned musicians of his day as J. J. Quantz, C. P. E. Bach and Franz Benda. Accompanied by the Kammerakademie Potsdam directed by Trevor Pinnock Emmanuel Pahud performs works by these three composers together with a composition written by Frederick the Great himself.
Emmanuel Pahud: Works by Frederick the Great
With this programme, Emmanuel Pahud, with no doubt one of the best flute players in the world, honours the 300th anniversary of a great philosopher, musician and composer: the Prussian King Frederick II, also called the Great. Together with the Kammerakademie Potsdam the famous French flutist and member of the Berliner Philharmonics will perform – in one of the palaces build by the King – musical works of Frederick the Great himself, of Johann Joachim Quantz (teacher of Frederick the Great) , of Franz Benda and of Carl Friedrich Emanuel Bach, who was the royal harpsichordist. Also available: Documentary (45’ – A05513518)
Premieres Revisited – Mendelssohn’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream in Potsdam
This episode marks the start of a captivating series: compositions at their world premiere venues. Mendelssohn composed his famous Sommernachtstraum (Midsummer Night’s Dream) as a teenager, but was not able to incorporate it into the accompaniment to Shakespeare’s fantastic comedy until 16 years later. The incidental music was commissioned by King Friedrich Wilhelm IV of Prussia and is performed in this special performance at the Theater des Neuen Palais in Potsdam, exactly where the premiere took place in October 1843. Alongside the Kammerakademie Potsdam and its chief conductor Antonello Manacorda, soloists Jeanine De Bique and Christiane Karg, who also appear in Berlioz’s exquisite Les nuits d’été, a work created just two years before Mendelssohn’s Midsummer Night’s Dream.