Handel: Music for the Royal Fireworks, Overture | Leonardo García-Alarcón & Düsseldorfer Symphoniker

Handel’s Music for the Royal Fireworks is one of the most popular and spectacular pieces of Baroque music—not just because of its powerful sound, but also because of the drama surrounding its 1749 premiere. At the International Classical Music Awards concert on March 19, 2025, Argentinian harpsichordist and conductor Leonardo García-Alarcón led the Düsseldorfer Symphoniker in a performance of the Overture from Handel’s Music for the Royal Fireworks (HWV 351) in D major at the Tonhalle Düsseldorf.

(00:00) Applause
(00:14) Part One: Adagio
(02:34) Part Two: Allegro

The work’s first performance in London’s Green Park did not go smoothly. The orchestra began too early, fireworks sent the audience fleeing, and part of the elaborate stage structure caught fire. These mishaps turned the event into a media sensation, ensuring its place in music history.
Handel composed this open-air piece on commission from King George II, to celebrate the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, which ended the War of the Austrian Succession in 1748. The king wanted a grand public celebration—complete with music and fireworks.

Before the premiere, Handel clashed with the king over instrumentation. George II wanted only military instruments—winds and percussion—with no strings. Handel eventually complied for the outdoor debut, but had already written string parts, which he later used in a revised version performed at a benefit concert.

This Düsseldorf performance did go smoothly. Leonardo García-Alarcón, winner of the International Classical Music Award 2025 – Artist of the Year, conducted and accompanied on the harpsichord. Originally from La Plata, Argentina, García-Alarcón studied conducting, organ, and harpsichord, and received his Maestro al Cembalo diploma in Geneva in 2003. He founded the Cappella Mediterranea in 1999, an ensemble dedicated to Spanish and Latin American Baroque music. Since 2008, he has served as artistic director of the Monte Carlo Opera and, since 2010, as principal conductor of the Choeur de chambre de Namur. He also teaches basso continuo and historical vocal performance at the Centre de Musique Ancienne in Geneva.

© 2025 Deutsche Welle

Watch more concerts in your personal concert hall:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_SdnzPd3eBV5A14dyRWy1KSkwcG8LEey

and in our Baroque playlist:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_SdnzPd3eBXLyjR_MiLhm0kuiyjEcVG1

Subscribe to DW Classical Music:
https://www.youtube.com/dwclassicalmusic

#classicalconcert #handel #baroquemusic

- Enlace a artículo -

Más info en https://ift.tt/L2zbyS6 / Tfno. & WA 607725547 Centro MENADEL (Frasco Martín) Psicología Clínica y Tradicional en Mijas. #Menadel #Psicología #Clínica #Tradicional #MijasPueblo

*No suscribimos necesariamente las opiniones o artículos aquí compartidos. No todo es lo que parece.