Time 19:00
Zdrojowy Theater in Szczawno-Zdrój
The performance is part of the Szczawno-Zdrój Baroque Festival 2025
Johann Sebastian Bach’s wedding cantata Weichet nur, betrübte Schatten, BWV 202, is full of joy and delight . Modest requirements concerning the performers (the soprano is accompanied only by oboe, violin, and basso continuo) indicate that it was probably created for the occasion of a bourgeois or noble wedding; its humorous and dance-like character would certainly be out of keeping with any princely court. It might have been composed for Bach’s own engagement to Anna Magdalena in 1721. The wonderful music perfectly accords with the literary content, as the initial image of a harsh and dark winter transforms into a landscape of vibrant, blossoming spring.
On the other hand, the time of creation and addressee of Bach’s cantata Non sa che sia dolore, BWV 209, is difficult to determine. The composition tells the story of suffering caused by the necessity of parting from a best friend. However, the despair, resounding in the first part of the composition, later interweaves with a tone of hope, to eventually change into an encouragement to boldly face the challenges of the new and unknown in the final aria.
Between the cantatas, we will hear the famous Orchestral Suite in B minor, BWV 1067. It is worth noting the Polish accent in this work – the fifth movement of the suite is, after all, a polonaise.
PROGRAM
Johann Sebastian Bach
Kantata Weichet nur, betrübte Schatten BWV 202
Aria: Weichet nur, betrübte Schatten
Aria – Gavotte: Sehet in Zufriedenheit tausend helle Wohlfahrstage
Recitative: Die Welt wird wieder neu
Aria: Phoebus eilt mit schnellen Pferden
Recitative: Drum sucht auch Amor sein Vergnügen
Aria: Wenn die Frühlingslüfte streichen
Recitative: Und dieses ist das Glücke
Aria: Sich üben im Lieben, in Scherzen sich herzen
Recitative: So sei das Band der keuschen Liebe
Orchestral Suite No. 2 in B minor, BWV 1067
Ouverture – Rondeau – Sarabande – Bourreé I alternativement, Bourreé II – Polonaise – Menuet – Badinerie
Cantata Non sa che sia dolore BWV 209
Sinfonia
Aria: Ricetti gramezza e pavento
Recitative: Non sa che sia dolore
Aria: Parti pur, e con dolore
Recitative: Tuo saver al tempo e l’età contrasta
PERFORMERS
OLGA PASIECZNIK SOPRANO
THE PERIOD INSTRUMENTS ENSEMBLE OF THE POLISH ROYAL OPERA CAPELLA REGIA POLONA
KRZYSZTOF GARSTKA HARPSICHORD, CONDUCTOR
Duration: approx. 1h 15 mins
Patron of Opera on Tour
Patron of Opera on Tour
