Flautists and the king of Prussia

The concert program “The Flutists of the King of Prussia” retraces in music the fruitful artistic exchanges which took place in the 18th century between France and Prussia.

A fervent admirer of Versailles art, Frederick II was the most Francophile of the kings of Prussia. Passionate about music, he turned to Michel Blavet to be his flute teacher. But the famous Parisian flautist declined the offer, and it was Johann Joachim Quantz, himself a student of the Frenchman Louis-Gabriel Buffardin, who ultimately fell to this position, which he held for the rest of his life. The concert works of these three immense virtuosos constitute the common thread of the program “The Flutists of the King of Prussia”.

The shadow of Bach senior is also present through the work of Louis Marchand, who withdrew from the Cantor during a famous aborted organ duel…

Noticed by Quantz during his trip to Paris, the violist Jean-Baptiste-Antoine Forqueray wrote instructions for playing the viol for Espérendieu, the secretary of Prince Friedrich Wilhelm of Prussia, around 1768.

The evolution of styles is palpable, from French Baroque, tinged with Italian virtuosity, to the half-gallant, half-sentimental style, characterizing the Berlin school, of which Quantz is one of the main representatives, alongside his colleagues at the court of Berlin, Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach and Franz Benda.

8 musicians
François Lazarevitch : flute & direction
violin 1, violin 2, viola, viola da gamba, double bass, harpsichord, theorbo

Production
Les Musiciens de Saint-Julien