Enjoying Baroque music in a royal palace: A Baroque concert in Deoksugung Palace

A Baroque concert in Deoksugung Palace will be held on the evening of September 7. The picture is a scene from the summer concert that was held in the palace in July. Courtesy of the Cultural Heritage Administration

A chance to enjoy Baroque music in Deoksugung Palace is coming.

The Deoksugung Management Office in the Royal Palaces and Tombs Center of the Cultural Heritage Administration announced on August 28 that they would organize the Deoksugung Baroque Concert with the Baroque ensemble, Nuri Collective, at Seokjojeon Hall in Deoksugung Palace at 7 p.m. September 7.

The ensemble will perform concertos composed by the eighteenth-century Italian composer Antonio Vivaldi, as well as Francesco Mancini, Johann Adolf Hasse, and Francesco Xaverio Geminiani with period instruments such as the Baroque violin and Baroque cello in the upcoming concert in Deoksugung Palace. The program includes Vivaldi’s Chamber Concerto in A minor, RV 108; Mancini’s Concerto No. 6 in D minor from the Naples manuscript for flute, violin, violetta and basso continuo; Hasse’s Recorder Sonata in B-flat Major, “Cantata”; and Geminiani’s Concerto Grosso No. 10 in F Major after Corelli’s Sonata Op. 5.

Jung Yeuntae (recorder), Lee Hansol (violin, ensemble leader), Ignacio Ramal (Baroque violin), Kim Hyemin (bassoon), Yun Hyunjong (theorbo), Chang Yujin (Baroque cello), Arend Grosfeld (harpsichord, music director), and Siavash Sabetrohani (program notes) will take part in the upcoming concert, which will be accompanied by the commentary of music columnist Noh Seung-rim.

The concert is free, but there is a separate entrance fee for the Deoksugung Palace. The Deoksugung Management Office will receive applications on its website (www.deoksugung.go.kr) from 10 a.m. August 31 for up to eighty people on a first-come-first-serve basis. Ten seats will be available for on-site registration to senior citizens ages 65 and older, people with disabilities, and foreigners. For more information, you can contact the management office at 02)751-0740.

Nuri Collective is a global ensemble of musicians from various countries founded in Barcelona, Spain in 2018. Through constant research, they discover and introduce Baroque music and are expanding into the international stage, actively collaborating with young contemporary composers.

The Deoksugung Management Office announced, “The concert will be accompanied by commentary on the background and meaning of the splendid and lyrical Baroque music of the eighteenth century, and it will provide a good opportunity for the audience to experience the beauty of music along with the historic context,” and added, “We expect people to spend a romantic time enjoying beautiful music in a historical palace.”