Göteborgs Konserthus From Rome to Naples 

Arcangelo Corelli (1653-1713) Concerti Grossi Op 6 (no 2, 4 och 5) During the Baroque period, musical works were often published by the dozen. Arcangelo Corelli's op 6 thus consists of twelve large concertos - concerto grosso. They may not be big in our perspective, but for the time they were both grandiose and innovative. These concertos were composed in Rome where the composer was a highly respected member of the Accademia dei Arcadi, where he was patronized by Cardinal Ottoboni (who later became Pope Alexander VIII), and where he became a renowned violinist and extraordinarily successful composer. The longest of the concertos, No. 8 in G minor, is often played due to its association with Christmas.

Arcangelo Corelli (1653-1713) Sonata Op 5 No. 12: "La folia" The melody "La folia" is one of the most famous themes of Western art music, and has been reused in countless variations. It is said to have originated in medieval Spain and the 16 bars sound in their simplest form as background music at any European Renaissance court. Thanks to the Baroque composers, La folia ("the madness") took on a life of its own, and both Vivaldi, Corelli and Handel added color to the melody. Swedish folk music also picked up this hit, with "The Sinclair song" being the most obvious example. When jazzpianist Jan Johansson recorded the song on the album Music through four centuries, the circle from Spain to Svedala was closed.

Francesco Durante (1684-1755) Concerto No. 1 in F minor for string orchestra Un poco andante; Allegro – Andante – Amoroso - Allegro Composer Francesco Durante lived 71 years. I don't think he was an aspiring gambler. He put notes on paper and made sure to have people around him who used them. There was a large amount of music for the service, plus some oratorios, such as one from 1705 about Saint Anthony of Padua, a Franciscan monk with many miracles to sing about. Durante eventually ended up in Naples, a very vibrant musical city at the time. There were half a dozen conservatories with many students. He took charge of the school dedicated to Onofrio, a very popular saint. Doctor Burney, who traveled around Europe to collect material for his formidable A General History of Music, tells how the teaching went there. "We visited all these rooms where the boys practice, sleep and eat. On the stairs of the first floor stood a trumpeter, shouting with his instrument so that he was about to burst. In the second was a horn player bellowing in the same way. In the general practice room there was "a dutch concert" with 7-8 harpsichords, at least as many string instruments and many voices. They all practiced different things in each key. In the same room, other boys sat and wrote notes." Mixing everything up in this way was perhaps convenient for the school and it possibly taught the boys to safely hold their own voice, regardless of everything going on at the same time. It forced them to play hard to hear themselves… but from that also comes the sloppy rawness that is so palpable when they perform something in public. The teenage Mozart experienced something similar when he later came to Naples with his father. I suspect that it often happened this way in the past in the world, not only in the context of music... How did it sound in Swedish schools much later when the public school charter was new and everyone was babbling their homework? Francesco probably took it easy in his conservatory. One of his students was named Pergolesi, by the way. Ingemar von Heijne 2021

The Baroque Academy Gothenburg Symphony was formed around 2008 and consists of 20 musicians who are driven by the desire to explore and bring to life music from the 17th and 18th centuries. Concert master is Terje Skomedal. The ensemble has performed several concerts over the years with guest soloists and baroque specialists, such as Iwona Muszynska (violin), Takashi Watanabe (harpsichord), Stefano Veggetti (cello) and Philippe Pierlot (viola da gamba).In addition to a series of concerts in Gothenburg's Konserthus, the Baroque Academy has also played at the Auktionsverket in Gothenburg, Kulturbruket på Dal and several other places in Västra Götaland. In March 2022, BAGS recorded a disc for BIS with the Italian soprano Nicolò Balducci.

The Swedish recorder virtuose Dan Laurin has performed in most parts of the world. Tours to the USA, Japan, Korea, India and Australia as well as appearances in the major European musical centres have confirmed his reputation as one of the most interesting – and sometimes controversial – performers on his instrument. His efforts to rediscover the sound possibilities of the recorder have resulted in a technical facility and a style of playing that have won him numerous awards including two Swedish Grammis, the Society of Swedish Composers‘ prize for the best interpretation of contemporary Swedish music and the Performer’s Prize from The Royal Swedish Academy of Music. A lengthy collaboration with the Australian instrument maker Frederick Morgan resulted in a succession of reconstructions of instruments from earlier rimes, and this has greatly enriched the world of recorder music. Special mention should be made here of the instrument that was designed specifically for Dan Laurin’s recording of Jacob van Eyck ‘s monumental Der Fluyten Lust-hof, the largest work ever written for a wind instrument. Besides working with early music. Dan Laurin has also premiered numerous works by Swedish composers. His efforts to broaden the repertoire and to gain for the recorder the status of a concert instrument together with a large orchestra has resulted in several concertos that are already considered classics. Dan Laurin is professor of the recorder and teaches at Trinity College and Stockholm’s Royal College of Music. He is a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music In 2001 he received the medal ‘Litteris et Artibus’ from King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden.