Works from Sara Levy's collection

She was a fascinating woman, a great musician and an important patron of music in the early 19th century: born in 1761 as the daughter of Frederick the Great's financial entrepreneur, Sara Levy grew up in Berlin in a very wealthy family and enjoyed an extensive education, especially in music: among other things, she was considered Wilhelm Friedemann Bach's favourite pupil. After her marriage in 1783 at the latest, she also hosted musical soirées in her own salon and her house was soon regarded as a meeting place for the intellectual avant-garde. Personalities such as E.T.A. Hoffmann, the Varnhagen couple, Carl Friedrich Zelter, W. F. Bach and later Sara's great-nephew Felix Mendelssohn regularly met at the Levy house, philosophised and played music - above all pieces from Sara's own music library, for which she also subscribed to and commissioned new works. This collection also contains numerous previously undiscovered treasures from Handel's chamber music repertoire, in which the viola takes on the hitherto unusual role of soloist.

Francesca Venturi Ferriolo will guide the audience through the programme with a witty presentation, helping them to imagine themselves back in these bourgeois concerts in Berlin at the time of the Enlightenment and to understand the philosophy behind the unique German musical culture of this era.