The Norwegian Baroque Orchestra - Popular music at the time of Empereror Joseph II at Den Norske Opera & Ballett

The Norwegian Baroque Orchestra continues the musical journey through European history that they embarked on last season. With a sidelong glance at historic events and schools of thought in Europe, they will play a select repertoire from the baroque era up to the time that democracy became enshrined in Norway’s Constitution on 17 May 1814.

Their musical sojourn will take us to Germany’s Sturm und Drang period, delving into the strongly emotive music of the time, and on to the popularity of rococo and Viennese classicism as embodied by Mozart and Haydn. The crowning splendour of this musical journey is Beethoven’s ‘Eroica’ Symphony, originally called the Bonaparte Symphony in honour of the positive influence of Napoleon at the time, the French Revolution and Germany’s Age of Enlightenment. These events contributed to shaping a new Europe, which in turn formed the basis of Norway’s Constitution.