“Please send me the detailed, colored, and proportionally drawn elevation and floor plan of an authentic Chinese imperial ceremonial room, which I might imitate, and in which I could display my rarities… even the smallest detail… must be reproduced precisely...”

With this meticulous request, Duke August of Sachsen-Gotha-Altenburg wasn’t just redecorating — he was envisioning a carefully curated world, an idealized China recreated within his European palace. His vision, one of precision, order, and wonder, reflected a wider 18th-century European fascination with Chinese art, philosophy, and aesthetics.

In 18th-century, the courts of Thüringen blossom into a vibrant centre of cultural life, home to figures like Bach, Goethe, and Schiller. It was a world where music, poetry, and visual art flourished. Its art was still strongly rooted in tradition but increasingly curious about inspriations and possible changes from abroad. Within this cultural exchange, Chinoiserie emerged: not just decorative fantasy, but a reflection of Enlightenment ideals projected onto a distant, imagined East.

The perceived harmony, restraint, and moral clarity of Chinese Confucian thought offered a mirror through which European thinkers and artists could reflect on their own societies. Literature and music works such as Voltaire’s L’Orphelin de la Chine, Gluck’s opera Le Cinesi, and poems by Goethe and Schiller testify to the imaginative power of this engagement. China, though distant, became a canvas for philosophical reflection, aesthetic longing, and critique.

This concert invites the listeners to become part of a dialogue between times and cultures. The Traverso is the voice that bridges traditions: the contrapuntal depth of the German Baroque showcased in Bach's 5th Cello Suite and the elegant, modal lyricism of Chinese music. Alongside with poetry and photography, we seek a new kind of aesthetic enjoyment as well as a deeper reflection on a shared human pursuit of beauty, order, and meaning that are across time, language, and geography.