Music of the Baroque, Chicago Music of the Baroque, Chicago Music of the Baroque is a professional chorus and orchestra based in Chicago and one of the few groups of its stature in the country devoted to the performance of eighteenth-century works. Under the direction of internationally acclaimed British conductor Jane Glover, Music of the Baroque is consistently positioned among Chicago’s leading classical music ensembles, drawing particular praise for its performances of the major choral works of J. S. Bach, Haydn, Mozart, and Handel. "Opera News" calls Music of the Baroque “one of Chicago’s musical glories” and the "Chicago Sun-Times writes," “Lyric Opera of Chicago
Music of Germany the 20th century. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's "Die Zauberflöte" (1791) is usually said to be the beginning of German opera. An earlier starting date for German opera, however, could be Heinrich Schütz's "Dafne" from 1627. Schütz is said to be the first great German composer before Johann Sebastian Bach, and was a major figure in 17th-century music. In the 19th century, two figures were paramount in German opera: Carl Maria von Weber and Richard Wagner. Wagner introduced devices like the Leitmotiv, a musical theme which recurs for important characters or ideas. Wagner (and Weber) based his operas of German history and