Four centuries of art and music unfold over two months with introductions by Wallace Collection director Xavier Bray. To launch the Synergy Season of streamed concerts, he takes a close look at Canaletto, as the spirited Orpheus Sinfonia conjures up the artist's bustling 18th-century Venice in the music of Vivaldi (Sun 21 March, 6PM and on demand). Works include the bubbly Oboe Concerto in A, with soloist Peter Facer.
Next, the team turn to the Wallace Collection's fizzing Rococo treasures, including Fragonard’s The Swing and spectacular Meissen vases, to the accompaniment of music by Rameau, Couperin and Gluck (Sun 4 April at 6PM).
The Wallace Collection is famous for its formidable collection of arms and armour. Cue an evening of martial music, Ceremony and Battle (Sun 19 April, 6PM). The brass and percussion of the Orpheus Sinfonia let rip in fanfares and rallying cries, and are in reflective mood for the funeral marches.
Wallace Collection director Xavier Bray talks about Canaletto's Venice
Imagine the paintings and furniture in a room 'listening in' to history being made in the courts of Louis XIV, Louis XV and Marie-Antoinette. They would have witnessed, for example, Mozart’s first visit to Versailles, where he performed aged only seven. The music played in those gracious surroundings could have included the young Mozart's Violin and Harpsichord Sonata, K6 in C Major, played in the fourth concert, entitled Silent Witness (Sun 2 May, 6PM). Hear too more from Rameau and Gluck, plus Lully.
And finally, a great architectural flourish brings the series to an end. The Staircase (Sun16 May, 6PM), celebrates in music the flamboyance and confidence of the grand staircase of the Wallace Collection's home, Hertford House in Manchester Square, off Oxford Street.
In this grand finale, the Orpheus Sinfonia play Wagner's Siegfried Idyll on these majestic stairs, a reminder of the great places that await us, just as soon as we can be fully out and about in London again.
Wallace Collection Synergy Series concerts by Orpheus Sinfonia are free to view from dates listed, and thereafter on demand. Donations will be shared between the work of the gallery and of the musical ensemble.
| What | Orpheus Sinfonia, Synergy Series, Wallace Collection online |
| Where | Online | MAP |
| When |
21 Mar 21 – 16 May 21, Five fortnightly Sunday concerts, each at 6PM then on demand |
| Price | £5 |
| Website | Click here for more information and booking |