Fatto per la Notte di Natale: the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin in festive Baroque mood

Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin

Biber, Vivaldi, Locatelli, Corelli, Telemann, Dall'Abaco, Bach; Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin; Wigmore Hall
Reviewed 3 December 2025

A programme that was seasonally Baroque, played with a lovely sense of collective engagement. But whilst we might have come for the Corelli, it was Locatelli's ravishing concerto gross that stayed in the memory

The Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin with concertmasters Georg Kallweit and Mayumi Hirasaki brought Christmas to Wigmore Hall on Wednesday 3 December 2025 with a programme of Baroque works evoking the season, centred on Corelli's Christmas concerto. 

The programme opened with the 'Ciacona' from Biber's Mystery Sonata IV in D minor 'The Presentation of Jesus in the Temple', and continued with Vivaldi's Violin Concerto in E RV270 'Il Riposo per il Santo Natale', Locatelli's Concerto grosso in F minor Op. 1 No. 8, Corelli's Concerto grosso in G minor Op. 6 No. 8 'Fatto per la Notte di Natale', Telemann's Overture in F 'à la Pastorelle' TWV55:F7, Evaristo Felico Dall'Abaco's Concerto a più istrumenti in B minor Op. 6 No. 4, and Bach's Double Concerto for 2 violins in D minor BWV1043.

Biber's Ciacona was played by both concertmasters, with Mayumi Hirasaki at the rear of the auditorium and Georg Kallweit on stage, the two trading phrases and creating a sort of dialogue as the variations moved between complex divisions and quietly thoughtful. The work did not feel religious per se, but the two violinists brought out a certain intensity.

The Biber was performed just by the two solo violins and continuo, with the full ensemble (six violins, two violas, cello, double bass, bassoon, theorbo and harpsichord/organ) coming on stage for Vivaldi's Concerto in E. Each of the works in the programme seemed to have a slightly different line-up and the ensemble freely took advantage of this with players moving to different positions in the ensemble.

Vivaldi's concerto has the subtitle that might be translated as a sleep (or a nap) for the holy birth, though I am unclear as to who is napping the infant or the mother after her labours. There was nothing specifically sleepy about the music, though Vivaldi does request the strings use mutes The soloist was Mayumi Hirasaki who made a delightful impression with the concerto's light and transparent elaborations, with Vivaldi stripping the textures down to just soloist and violas at one point. The slow movement was just an expressive sequence of chords, a transition passage leading to a finale that had a lovely bounce to it.

Locatelli's Concerto Grosso in F minor is from the set published as his Opus 1. Influenced by Corelli's Opus 6 Concerti Grossi, Locatelli even finishes his F minor concerto with a similar pastorale movement to Corelli's Christmas Concerto. The fascinating thing about Locatelli's Concerto Grosso was its concertino group of two violins (Kallweit and Hirasaki) and two violas (Monika Grimm and Clemens-Maria Nuszbaumer). A slow introduction led to a rather lovely but intense movement, whilst the two violas brought a richness to the lively fugue that followed. Locatelli's fondness for rich chromaticism reappeared in the third movement, whilst the pastoral finale had a lovely lilt to it.

Corelli's Concerto Grosso in G minor is far more familiar, and the players brought a real feeling of collective engagement to the performance. This moved from slow and intense rich toned harmony to vivid solo passages to elegant overlapping lines. Textures were always finely considered and in the third movement you felt the whole ensemble swaying to the music. The vividly urgent fourth movement led to the delightful pastoral, complete with drones.

After the interval it was the turn of Telemann to turn pastoral with his Overture in F. This was in seven highly varied movements. The Ouverture was galant with an elegant sway to the music, whilst the Viste began with cellist Katharina Litschig beating a rhythm on the body of her instrument! Elegance returned in the Menuet, but there were vivid gestures too and this sense of dialogue continued in the Air where melodic solos were interrupted by vivid gestures from the ensemble. A perky Gigue and light, busy Caprice full of intriguing rhythms led to the final movement, Carillon which really did include bells, played by Georg Kallweit.

Evaristo Felice Dall'Abaco was a name that was new to me. Born in Verona, he worked for the Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian, following the Emperor to the Low Countries. His Concerto a più istrumenti in B minor is one of several for multiple instruments. It was a compact, three movement work, the first full of engaging rhythms and fast passage-work, the second featuring elegant violin solos over a throbbing accompaniment and the third light and urgent.

The concert ended on more familiar territory with Bach's Concerto for two violins. The rich instrumental sound combined with a rather steady forward pulse in the first movement, which gave it a slightly dogged feel, offset by strongly characterised solos. The second movement was not too slow with an underlying sway to the music, then we finished the work with vivid energy, strong accents and a sense of bravura.

There was an encore, a ravishing piece of Telemann from his Overture in D TWV55:D1

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