Grand Tour: Baroque Road Trip New Dutch Academy Chamber Orchestra & Simon Murphy

• George Frideric Handel (1685 - 1759):
• 1 Alcina, HWV 34: Tornami a vagheggiar 04:49
• Georg Philipp Telemann (1681 - 1767):
• 2 Viola Concerto in G Major, TWV 51:G9: I. Largo 03:18
• 3 Viola Concerto in G Major, TWV 51:G9: II. Allegro 02:57
• 4 Viola Concerto in G Major, TWV 51:G9: III. Andante 03:48
• 5 Viola Concerto in G Major, TWV 51:G9: IV. Presto 03:30
• Antonio Vivaldi (1678 - 1741):
• 6 Chamber Concerto in D Major, RV 93: I. — 03:18
• 7 Chamber Concerto in D Major, RV 93: II. Largo 04:44
• 8 Chamber Concerto in D Major, RV 93: III. Allegro 02:11
• Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 - 1750):
• 9 Brandenburg Concerto No. 6 in B-Flat Major, BWV 1051: I. — 07:34
• 10 Brandenburg Concerto No. 6 in B-Flat Major, BWV 1051: II. Adagio ma non tanto 05:09
• 11 Brandenburg Concerto No. 6 in B-Flat Major, BWV 1051: III. Allegro 07:01
• Unico Wilhelm van Wassenaer (1692 - 1766):
• 12 Concerto armonico No. 1 in G Major: I. Grave 01:49
• 13 Concerto armonico No. 1 in G Major: II. Allegro 03:23
• 14 Concerto armonico No. 1 in G Major: III. Andante 04:38
• 15 Concerto armonico No. 1 in G Major: VI. Allegro 02:34
• Antonio Vivaldi (1678 - 1741):
• 16 Recorder Concerto in C Major, RV 443: I. Allegro 04:03
• 17 Recorder Concerto in C Major, RV 443: II. Largo 04:13
• 18 Recorder Concerto in C Major, RV 443: III. Allegro molto 03:03
• Antonio Vivaldi (1678 - 1741):
• 19 Alessandro, HWV 21: Brilla nell' alma un non inteso ancor 06:21
• Total Runtime 01:18:23

Info for Grand Tour: Baroque Road Trip

From London to Venice via Leipzig and The Hague, with Grand Tour – Baroque Road Trip, Simon Murphy and the New Dutch Academy take a fascinating journey through Europe in a sumptuous programme of Baroque musical treasures. Using authentic instruments in an immersive acoustic, these vivid performances not only celebrate the glories of the Baroque but also the sheer joy of making music.

"We've aimed to create a musical experience where you can really feel the human physicality involved”, writes Simon Murphy, “from the refined, elegant and poised end of the spectrum, right through to the earthy and raw, textured and gritty, sometimes rustic aspects of this Baroque craft of music making.”

This musical journey takes in works by Bach, Handel, Telemann, Vivaldi and van Wassenaer.

In the two irresistible concertos by Vivaldi – the famous Concerto for Lute, Strings and Basso Continuo in D and the infectiously bubbly Concerto for Flautino, Strings and Basso Continuo in C – the outer movements radiate a sunny optimism, balancing slow movements of great tenderness and beauty. Noted for its somewhat unusual scoring, the rhythmic bounce and swing of Bach’s delightful Brandenburg Concerto no. 6 in B flat is given here an extra fillip with the addition of a lute to the basso continuo. The delicious interplay between the ensemble parts continues with van Wassenaer’s characterful Concerto Armonico no. 1 in G which Murphy notes “could be nicknamed the ‘Dutch Brandenburg 3’”. And in his operas, Handel never really strays far from Italy, demonstrated here with the delicious arias Tornami a vagheggiar (from Alcina) and Brilla nell'alma (from Alessandro).

Described by De Volkskrant as “a musician with guts: a conductor with the passion and conviction of a born missionary”, Simon Murphy has a reputation for bringing fresh perspectives to the classic symphonic repertoire and is the founder and artistic director of the award-winning New Dutch Academy. This Baroque orchestra was described by BBC Music Magazine as “a big band playing on period instruments” and praised for its “sumptuous ... swinging rhythms ... stylish ornamentation ... inventive extemporisation.”

“This album takes its inspiration from the sheer delight and excitement of 18th century musical travellers”, writes Simon Murphy in the album notes, “there is such a palpable excitement as they embark on their musical adventure … I hope you enjoy the album and feel inspired by it.”

Myrsini Margariti, soprano
New Dutch Academy
Simon Murphy, baroque viola, conductor

Simon Murphy
Educated by the leading lights of the Dutch early music movement, the young Australian/Dutch viola player and conductor Simon Murphy (Sydney, 1973) gained his initial experience performing in the lead- ing Dutch and European period instrument ensembles such as the Orchestra of the 18th Century, and was also the Viola player of The Amsterdam String Quartet, before going on to establish his own internationally operating orchestra, The New Dutch Academy (NDA). Under Murphy’s leadership, the NDA has subsequently succeeded to attract awards and much praise from both the media and musical establishment for its fresh and vibrant approach to early music repertoire, performance and presentation. Murphy is known for his energetic and infectiously enthusiastic approach to music making as well as for his multidisciplinary projects and programs giving new insights into the music, arts and culture of the 18th century. He has done much in reviving previously ignored symphonic music, especially from the mid 18th century musical centres of Mannheim and the Netherlands, and has also been recently successful in completing the reconstruction of Bach’s own cello – known as the Violoncello Piccolo or Viola Pomposa – an instrument upon which he also regularly performs as a soloist.

Murphy obtained his undergraduate degree in Fine Arts, Musicology and Performance at the University of Sydney, before moving to the Netherlands where he studied and worked with the likes of Alda Stuurop, Gustav Leonhardt and Frans Brüggen. As a conductor and chamber soloist, Murphy has performed across Europe, America, Asia and Australia. His work is documented on more than 50 CDs.

Simon Murphy regularly co-operates with European radio and television for live concert broadcasts and documentaries, working with, amongst others, AVRO, NPS, RNW, Hessischer Rundfunk, MDR, Radio Deutschland and RAI as well as with the EBU for world-wide live simulcasts. Murphy has directed concert performances at the major concert halls at home in the Netherlands including the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, De Doelen Rotterdam and Vredenburg Utrecht, and, internationally, at the major European music festivals, including at the Festivals of Amsterdam, Utrecht,The Hague, Brussels, Gent, Brühl, Halle, Weimar, Bad Arolsen, Potsdam and Rome.

He regularly works together with the Royal Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs representing the Netherlands and Dutch Cultural Heritage internationally. In this role he has conducted the opening concerts for Dutch Music Month in Sydney (2006) and Dutch Music Week in Brussels (2004), and for other major representational events such as the official opening concert for the State Visit of Her Majesty Queen Beatrix to Italy in the presidential palace in Rome, the Palazzo Quirinale, which was also broadcast live on radio and TV. Murphy has been awarded industry prizes for his performing and recording work, including the Edison for his and the NDA’s first recording of early Mannheim symphonies.

Alongside his conducting work, Simon Murphy is a committed educator. He has been a guest baroque violin/viola teacher at many leading institutions and has presented masterclasses, workshops, scholarly lectures and lecture- recitals on tours through Europe, Asia, Russia, Scandinavia and most recently the U.S.A.

The Chamber Orchestra of The New Dutch Academy
The award winning New Dutch Academy (NDA) is the international Dutch platform form for 18th century music and culture form for 18th century music and culture and is comprised of the new generation of leading international early music specialist performers. With both its international orchestra and chamber soloists under the leadership of the founder of the NDA, the Australian/Dutch conductor and viola player Simon Murphy, the NDA has attracted much interest from audiences and the international press for its exciting performance style fresh approach to early music ever since its establishment in 2002. In particular, the NDA has won praise for shedding new light on the richness of the 18th century music culture, for example by innovative programming – bring- ing exciting, newly found 18th century onto the concert podium – and through the NDA’s multidisciplinary projects, connecting music with other 18th century art forms.

Recent concert tours have seen the orchestra perform throughout mainland Europe, Scandinavia, Russia, Canada, the U.S., Asia and Australia.

From its base in The Hague, the NDA explores the music and culture of the 18th century with the combination of research and performance at its heart. The NDA musicians are from the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Sweden, Iceland, Finland, France, Spain, Italy, Australia, New Zealand, Japan and the US. The NDA performs exclusively on authentic instruments.

Through its own concert series and its annual multidisciplinary NDA festival the NDA maintains a busy schedule of performances at home in the Netherlands, where newly discovered works from the NDA research projects are presented for the first time.The NDA has performed at all of the leading halls in the Netherlands, from the Concertgebouw (Amsterdam) to De Doelen (Rotterdam) and Vredenburg (Utrecht). Internationally, the NDA has performed at the leading inter- national festivals, including the Holland Festival of Early Music Utrecht, the Festival of Flanders, the Roma Europa Festival (Italy), Potsdam Festspiele, the Mitte Europa Festival (Germany and Czech Republic), the Brezice Festival (Slovenia) and the Sacharov Festival (Russia), the Händel Festspiele in Halle, the Thüringer Bachwoche in Weimar and at the Nothern Lights Festival in Norway. Recently the NDA was involved in a series of lectures and performances at the Getty Center in Los Angeles, U.S.A.

NDA concerts have been broadcast across the world by the EBU and the NDA has worked further with, amongst others, Radio Netherlands Wereldomroep, AVRO, NPS, Deutschland Funk, Hessische Rundfunk, RAI, Klara and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation to achieve special radio concert broadcasts and documentary programmes with new 18th century repertoire.

The NDA works closely with the Royal Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs as a cultural ambassador on projects that celebrate historical cultural relationships and which foster international cultural understanding and exchange. Recently the NDA performed rediscovered Dutch and Italian Baroque music in the Palazzo Quirinale in Rome for Her Majesty Queen Beatrix and the President of Italy during the Queen’s State Visit to Italy. In 2006 the NDA celebrated the 400 year relationship between the Netherlands and Australia, giving special concerts, broadcasts, master-classes and workshops in both countries. In 2009, at the invitation of the Foreign Ministry, the NDA opened the cultural olympiad in Vancouver, Canada with performances of specially selected 17th and 18th century Dutch repertoire.

The NDA recordings also have been enthusiastically received. The first NDA CD (PentaTone) looking at the birth of the symphony, featuring early works of the Mannheim masters Stamitz and Richter, immediately won an Edison Music Award. “Murphy and his orchestra bring the melodic figures and rhetorical effects in the symphonies of Franx Xaver Richter and Johann Stamitz to life with a fantastic flair – energizing performances of this music ... daring and full of character” according to the Haagsche Courant. “Murphy makes the music of the Mannheim masters come alive – dancing, swinging ... Finally the Mannheimers sound like they should – the of joy the new, the excitement of the sense of discovery, the euphoric rush of a Mannheim skyrocket!” (Parool, the Netherlands) “One of the most interesting musical projects of the moment – exploring one of the fundamental facets of music – the symphony.” (CD Compact, Spain)

Booklet for Grand Tour: Baroque Road Trip