American countertenor Kangmin Justin Kim will present the world of the Italian chamber cantata through two German composers whose work left a mark on the history of opera. While Handel’s cantata Ah! Crudel, nel pianto mio is the work of a young composer who enjoyed dazzling success in Italy itself, Graun’s work belongs to an entirely different stylistic strand. He never visited Italy, and yet his operatic works had a profound impact on the development of Italian opera north of the Alps. His musical language is significantly influenced by the German artistic movement Empfindsamkeit i. e. Sentimentalism.

From the programme

Carl Heinrich Graun

Apollo et Dafne (cantata)

Baldassare Galuppi

Concerto a quattro no. 4 C minor

Georg Friedrich Händel

Ah! Crudel, nel pianto mio (cantata)

Line-up

Kangmin Justin Kim – countertenor

Václav Luks – harpsichord, conductor

Collegium 1704