Coming up in Philly music: City living on the river with Tempesta di Mare

Where should you hold a concert devoted to the role of rivers in the economic and cultural lives of cities and countries? Is there a better place in the United States than Philadelphia, a river city with an economy sustained by international shipping? The Tempesta di Mare period instrument orchestra will end its season with two large-scale Baroque pieces that celebrate the rivers of 18th-century Europe and the culture and commerce they supported. The Saturday concert will take place on the edge of the Delaware River, at the Independence Seaport Museum.

Both pieces were composed for festive occasions. Georg Philipp Telemann’s “Hamburger Ebb und Flut” (“Ebb and Flood in Hamburg”) was composed for the 100th anniversary of the merchants' organization formed to protect the transatlantic ships that traversed the Elbe, connecting Hamburg to the ocean in the same way the Delaware connects Philadelphia. Bach’s “Schleicht, spielende Wellen” (“Glide, playful ripples”) was composed for the birthday of the king of Poland, Augustus the Strong of Saxony.

As art historian Anne Schuster Hunter notes in her Tempesta blog, both pieces reflect an era when cities were building parks and pleasure sites along their riverfronts, in the same way Philadelphia is revamping the banks of the Schuylkill and the Delaware. The Telemann is a series of dances evoking reveling sailors and pagan water gods. In the Bach, four singers represent the rivers that flow through Augustus’s domains, touting their importance in a competition that ends with the smallest river promoting the great Bachian virtue of harmony. Tempesta’s vocal quartet for the Bach includes two popular Philadelphians, soprano Laura Heimes and bass Randall Scarlata (making a rare foray into the early-music world).

The Tempesta di Mare Philadelphia Baroque Orchestra will present Bach and Telemann on Water’s Edge at two Philadelphia shows: on Saturday, May 19, at 8pm at Independence Seaport Museum (211 South Columbus Blvd); and on Sunday, May 20, at 4pm at St. Martin-in-the-Fields (8000 St Martins Lane). Tickets ($25-$39; full-time students and youth grades 3-12 free at the door) are available online and at the door.

Above: Bernardo Bellott's 1784 Dresden seen from the Right Bank of the Elbe, beneath the August Bridge. This painting shows the seat of Elector Friedrich August III, for whom Bach wrote 'Schleicht, spielende Wellen,' and the Elbe river that inspired the composer.