Last week, I was tasked with trying to find an image for Early Music Hawaii’s last concert of the season, “From Venice to Dresden,” which will feature the music of Heinrich Schütz (1585-1672). Here was the text I was given by Ian Capps, President:

Heinrich Schütz was the most prominent of many German composers who studied at the feet of the Gabrielis and Monteverdi in early 17th century Venice. He, in particular, molded the powerful polychoral tradition to the cadences of German in the sacred cantatas of Lutheran Dresden and later crafted more intimate works as the 30 Years’ War decimated the resources of German city states. The program also includes fine works by Schein, Scheidt and Rosenmüller.

Ian asked me to look for images of old Dresden, and I was so happy Google found this one by Bernardo Bellotto, which seemed tailor made for our concert. The original painting came up on a Christie’s auction in 2015 with this description:

The nephew of the famous Canaletto, Venetian-born Bernardo Bellotto painted this sweeping view of Dresden at the height of his career — demonstrating a skill and maturity to rival that of his uncle. Earlier view paintings had confirmed Bellotto’s status as a talented artist in his own right, and he was called to Dresden by August III — the King of Saxony — to record the city’s rapidly evolving skyline.

‘This particular view was really Bellotto’s statement piece, one of a handful of versions he painted shortly after he moved from Italy to Dresden,’ explains Christie’s specialist Eugene Pooley. ‘It’s a work that’s steeped in history — not only in terms of the importance of the view, but because of the story it tells about Bellotto’s relationship with the court at Dresden, and his career as an artist. It was this composition that really saw him established as the pre-eminent view painter of his time — not just in Dresden but cities throughout Europe.’

Perfect!

The concert on Saturday, May 7 at the Lutheran Church of Honolulu will be LIVE and IN-PERSON, which will be a relief to many. Tickets may be purchased on the Early Music Hawaii website.

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Yesterday was Easter Day, and it had to be one of my easiest ever. (By the way, I was told in college that it’s improper to call it Easter Sunday, because Easter is ALWAYS on a Sunday!) I played “Festal Piece” and “Hornpipe” by Georg Frideric Handel with Russell Ishida and Thomas Kamisato, trumpet players, for the prelude and postlude, plus four hymns. I also repeated the transcription of Bach Cantata 4, third movement, which I had played in our Bach’s 337th birthday concert, with Russell playing the trumpet part.

Then I came home for the “real” Easter celebration, a potluck brunch. I only was responsible for making the asparagus frittata and the cranberry-glazed ham. The rest of the food was brought by my guests!