London 1720

Corelli's Legacy

London circa 1720 is the second in a series of four programmes on the history of instrumental music in England from the end of the seventeenth century to the end of the eighteenth century, and is the result of lengthy research work.

The Haymarket Theatre opened its doors in 1705 and soon became the only theatre in London where Italian Opera could be heard. Its musicians were mostly foreigners and among them were the greatest talents of the time: Georg Friedrich Handel, Johann Christoph Pepusch, William Babell, Giuseppe Sammartini. This period, still largely influenced by Corelli’s music and boosted by the presence of great virtuosos amongst the wind instruments, remains a golden age for the recorder, for which many sonatas and operatic arrangements of great beauty have never been published.

  • Stéphan Dudermel and Ajay Ranganathan, violins
  • Sébastien Marq, recorder
  • Florence Bolton, viola da gamba
  • Benjamin Perrot, theorbo
  • Carsten Lohff/ Jean Miguel Aristizabal, harpsichord

The disc

Extract