Sunday we get a new fun concert to listen to....

Nicholas Harnoncourt is going to direct Händl's last piece of music, Jeptha. Händl went blind half-way through composing it, seemingly. I remember attending a concert of one of his very early compostitions, and being thrilled by it. So it will be another, what goes around comes around concert. It was seemingly his last composition.

If anyone comes around, it seems you can tune in per internet, so this is going to be on Sunday 7 pm our time, which would be 1 pm Eastern time. The instructions for hearing it world-wide are here. Unfortunately only in German. Or you can try it via this link on the day of the transmission, and hope it works. So far it does. And the latter has a download link so that you can hear it more than once if you like it.

It will be performed in the Stephaniensaal, which has perfect acoustics. Picture above. Am sure it will be something very special.

Mark it on your calendars, ok? If anyone finds a better link to hear Österreich 1 in the meanwhile, please tell me so I can pass it on in time. Thank you.

Just a ps... am willing to bet that Donna Leon will be there for the premiere. Most of you won't know who that is. But she is crazy for Händl, lives in Venice, teaches English lit at a university on the mainland, and writes very interesting murder mysteries that sell thousands and thousands of copies throughout German speaking territory. Sort of a Patricia Highsmith, who fled the US, and invented the most amoral thugs ever written. Leon's main figure has morals. And she is crazy for opera, and Händl in particular, so I imagine she will be here. I met her at a book signing some years ago. And she was surprised that I had read the book, because it looked pristine. And I assured her I had, and she sort of twinkled at me, eyes sparkling, and asked 'Was I BAD?' And I said, 'My dear, you should have gone much further. Upon which she laughed so heartily, it made my day.

The US doesn't publish her books, btw. She belongs to us central Europeans.