Academie Concert: A Christmas Eve Special

The “Christmas Concerto” was very popular during the Baroque period and has remained so. It bridges the gap between secular chamber music and sacred music. Above all, it conveys a sense of radiant festive joy. As a typical concerto grosso, it features many brilliant solos for various instruments. Arcangelo Corelli’s contribution is specifically intended for the “Night of the Nativity” and is a prime example of this now-popular form. His compatriot Pietro Antonio Locatelli was also a famous violinist, an inventive composer, and, moreover, a cosmopolitan polymath. Antonio Vivaldi’s “Grand Mogul” concerto was not written for an Indian despot, but for an exceptionally virtuosic violinist, and is thus in the best of hands with Elisa Citterio. At the time, the title “Grand Mogul” was also used for prominent figures in cultural life; even Joseph Haydn jokingly called Beethoven by this name. The French maître Leclair, Handel, and Johann Sebastian Bach were undoubtedly “Grand Mughals of music” as well, enriching this festive program with their magnificent instrumental music.