Coming up in Philly Music: Tempest di Mare repeats a popular premiere

The directors of the Tempesta di Mare Baroque orchestra have added a useful term to our musical dictionary. Tempesta’s schedule frequently includes “modern world premieres”—the first modern performance of a piece that hasn’t been heard since the Baroque era ended in the 18th Century. The finale for their season opener will be a group of theater entra’actes by George Philipp Telemann that they premiered in 2017. Later this season, they’ll give the group its modern European premiere in Magdeburg, Germany.

Tempesta di Mare plays Baroque music on the type of instruments musicians actually played in the first half of the 18th Century. Tempesta’s schedule includes chamber concerts but one of their biggest strengths is their ability to present Baroque music with a full Baroque orchestra. For this concert, they’re presenting four pieces by Handel and Telemann that combine different combinations of flutes, horns, oboes and other winds with a full complement of strings. The Telemann entra’actes form a lively suite and the other entries are all good examples of Baroque music written for the sheer pleasure of it. Tempesta has titled the concert “Orchestral Gardeners” because the two composers were gardeners who exchanged plants, in addition to exchanging musical scores.

What, When, Where:

The Tempesta di Mare Baroque Orchestra will present “Orchestral Gardeners” on October 18 at 8pm at the Presbyterian Church of Chestnut Hill, 8855 Germantown Avenue; and October 19 at 8pm at the Philadelphia Episcopal Cathedral, 23 South 38th Street, Philadelphia. Tickets are $40 preferred, $30 general admission, full-time students with ID free, and they’re available online and at the door.