Freiburger Barockorchester & Collegium Vocale Gent . Marcus Creed

In many people's opinion, the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra is the best Baroque orchestra in the world, certainly as regards performance of the works of Bach and Zelenka. Add to that the incomparable quality of Collegium Vocale Gent and you have a concert to note down immediately in your melomaniac diary! The splendour and fame of the Elector of Saxony's court chapel in Dresden during the first half of the eighteenth century attracted a great deal of musical talent to that glittering city. Even Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) dreamt of exchanging Leipzig for the 'Venice on the Elbe', but his letter of application remained unanswered. The tone was meanwhile being set by musicians from Italy and neighbouring Bohemia, the most famous among them being Jan Dismas Zelenka (1679-1745). A vigorous example of his exceptionally original music is the 'Missa Dei Filii'. Written in the so-called 'stile misto' (mixed style), with a swirling alternation of old and modern forms and composition techniques, this mass spectacularly illustrates Zelenka's infectious spirituality and mastery of counterpoint.