Accademia Arcadia:
J.S. Bach's Musical Offering

6.00pm Wednesday 8th November 2023
MELBOURNE RECITAL CENTRE

Johann Sebastian Bach
Musicalisches Opfer (Musical Offering), BWV 1079

Experience the sounds of the 18th century like never before with the only copy of a Cristofori Piano in the Southern Hemisphere.

On 1746 Bach visited the court of the music-loving King Frederick of Prussia, later known as “Frederick the Great”. Frederick had recently taken delivery of several pianos, and he provided Bach with a theme on which improvise on these instruments. When Bach returned home he composed several pieces on this “royal theme” and published them under the title Musicalisches Opfer (Musical Offering), sending a dedicatory copy to Frederick. Since Frederick’s musical establishment included Bach’s son Carl Philipp Emanuel and the great flautist Joachim Quantz, Bach was able to include a trio sonata of exceptional difficulty, knowing that the right performers were available to perform it.

The copy of a Cristofori piano commissioned by Jacqueline Ogeil and purchased with the support of Dame Elisabeth Murdoch (the only instrument of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere) is exactly the sort of instrument that Bach played at the Prussian court. This performance of the Musical Offering, by four of Australia’s leading Baroque musicians, aims to reproduce this remarkable work as it was envisioned by its composer.

John O’Donnell Cristofori piano
Lucinda Moon baroque violin
Greg Dikmans baroque flute
Josephine Vains baroque cello