
On Friday, November 22, 2024, Innsbruck 's famous court church becomes the venue for an exclusive and sought-after concert entitled "Lectiones Nocturni 1705." This event closes the concert season of the "Innsbrucker Hofmusik" 2024, which will return in spring 2025 with a series of new dates, again in the Hofkirche.
The Innsbrucker Hofmusik ensemble before the "Tenebrae 1652" concert in the Innsbruck Hofkirche (held March 22, 2024), Photo © TLM/Wolfgang Alberty
A powerful and rarely performed concert
For the concert "Lectiones Nocturni 1705," international musicians and singers will perform in front of the iconic tomb of Maximilian I of Habsburg, compositions written for the funeral celebrations of the emperors of the Habsburg lineage, composed by Marc'Antonio Ziani, vice-master of the chapel at the Viennese court from the year 1700, and Emperor Leopold I himself.
Indeed, Leopold I boasted a refined musical education and had himself written the music for the funeral celebrations of his first and second wives, who died in 1673 and 1676, respectively. The concert program also features songs from the archives of the court chapel in Vienna.
A moment of the performance of Claudio Monteverdi's Vespers of the Blessed Virgin, held on September 29, 2022 as part of the Innsbrucker Hofmusik festival, Photo © TLM/Reinhold Sigl
Poignant music--with a joyful end to the evening
Alessandro Baldessarini with his theorbo during a performance of Claudio Monteverdi's Vespers of the Blessed Virgin, held on September 29, 2022 as part of the Innsbrucker Hofmusik festival, Photo © TLM/Reinhold Sigl
It will be like traveling back in time and reliving part of the solemn celebrations held for the death of a Habsburg ruler, when uninterruptedly for three days people prayed, played and sang in front of the castrum doloris, a temporary funeral chapel that in the Renaissance and Baroque ages was erected exclusively for this type of funeral liturgy.
The concert begins at 7 p.m., but at 6:15 p.m. there is an opportunity to participate in a brief introduction (in German) to the evening's repertoire. And after the concert, as is customary for Innsbrucker Hofmusik events, musicians, singers and the audience celebrate the end of the evening with a glass of wine in the foyer of the adjacent Tiroler Volkskunstmuseum; a festive and unique opportunity to exchange a few words with the concert's protagonists.
Court music in Innsbruck
In the Renaissance and Baroque periods, the Innsbruck court was an important center of Europe's musical elite. Indeed, at this time the city's court orchestra boasted a rich repertoire of sacred and secular music. From this cultural richness and vibrancy draw the concerts of the Innsbrucker Hofmusik series, which, from year to year, offer performances of rare pearls of the musical repertoire of the Tyrolean court and the Habsburg residences. The programming of the concerts stems from careful research of historical sources conducted by the Tiroler Landesmuseen regional museums in close collaboration with the artistic director of the series, Mariano Polin.
A moment of the performance of Claudio Monteverdi's Vespers of the Blessed Virgin, held on September 29, 2022 as part of the Innsbrucker Hofmusik festival, Photo © TLM/Reinhold Sigl
The court church: a Gesamtkunstwerk
The Innsbrucker Hofmusik concerts are held in Innsbruck's Hofkirche; in the center, the cenotaph of Emperor Maximilian I of Habsburg surrounded by the famous bronze sculptures, Photo © Gerhard Berger
The venue for concerts in the "Innsbrucker Hofmusik" series is the Hofkirche, Innsbruck's court church, a true artistic and...acoustic gem. The church was erected in memory of Emperor Maximilian I of Habsburg. In the center of the nave towers the emperor's tomb, which is empty, however, because at the time of his death in 1519 the church had not yet been built. On either side of the tomb are 28 bronze sculptures depicting relatives, ancestors, and iconic figures whom the emperor had chosen for their role in defending Christendom. And although the church is commonly called Schwarz Mander Kirche, meaning the church of black men, because of the dark patina of the bronze figures, there are also eight women among them.
In addition to artistic treasures, the Hofkirche is also famous for its "musical jewels." These are three outstanding historic organs, which are sometimes used for concerts of the "Innsbrucker Hofmusik." Jörg Ebert's organ from 1558 is the oldest in Austria and is located near the altar. In the Silver Chapel is an Italian Renaissance wooden organ, the oldest of its kind in the world, and above the entrance portal is the 18th-century organ by Johann Caspar Humpel.
Useful information
Innsbrucker Hofmusik: Lectiones Nocturni (1705)
Friday, November 22, 2024, 7 p.m
Concert introduction, 6:15 p.m
Hofkirche
Entrance from the Tiroler Volkskunstmuseum, Universitätstrasse 2, Innsbruck
Tickets
Full 35 euros, reduced 25 euros, students 10 euros
Ticket presale:
at the box office of the Tiroler Volkskunstmuseum
online at eventim-light and on öticket
Performers Lectiones Nocturni 1705:
Veronika Mair and Stephanie Pfeffer (Sopranos)
Florencia Menconi (Contralto)
Alberto Allegrezza (Tenor)
Henry van Engen (Tenor and Trombone)
Davide Benetti (Bass)
Matthias Klenota and Gabriele Toscani (Violins)
Annalisa Pappano, Mauro Colantonio and Julia Willeitner (Viole da gamba)
Joachim Pedarnig (Violone)
Johannes Ötzbrugger (Theorbo)
Christoph Anzböck (Organ)
Marian Polin (Conducting)
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A visual artist from Milan who not only works with brushes and canvases but also loves writing about art, culture, music, design and creativity.
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