What was an opera lover in 18th century London to do outside of the turbulent opera season? Opera-going was a central part of social and musical life: during the season, parts of London's upper class would spend several evenings a week in the theatre. One answer was found in the form of transcriptions intended for domestic enjoyment, and it is precisely this practice that formed the inspiration for our Handel program.

Georg Muffat, a cosmopolitan of his time, combined French and Italian musical tastes in his Florilegium of 1695/98, emphasising the common, unifying and conciliatory nature of music. From today's perspective, this makes him a pioneer of the European idea of ‘unity in diversity’. In this concert, False Consonance explores the French, the Italian and the so-called mixed style, with Muffat's works forming the framework for other composers from his circle.

In September 1737, Georg Philipp Telemann set off for Paris as an invited guest. One reason for the invitation was the great success of his quartets, published in Hamburg in 1730. Telemann followed with a second collection of quartets printed in 1738, entirely in the French style. Telemann thus created a type of work that for the first time can be described as a quartet with four equal part. False Consonance explores a continuo instrumentation without harpsichord alongside Telemann's often overlooked imitators.

Frederick the Great was not only an enthusiastic musician and composer himself, but was also interested in French culture and philosophy like no other German ruler. He tried to imitate the splendour of Versailles in Sanssouci - including with a court chapel that developed its very own style with composers such as C.P.E. Bach, Quantz and Jantisch at its heart.

Frederick the Great's cultural achievements are undisputed despite the fact that his father, the ‘Soldier King’, rejected musical education as ‘effeminate’. So where did Frederick's affinity for music come from? The answer is actually obvious: it was Frederick's mother who provided his musical education and thus laid the foundations for his cultural legacy. With this programme, False Consonance aims to discover the women around Frederick II both as patrons of culture and as composers, to explore their musical environment and thus recognise their achievements in the field of music.