Anyone who still associates Ghent's Pentecost weekend with folklore and crowds will discover in Cydonia Barocca one of the most idiosyncratic baroque initiatives in Flanders. For years, Cydonia Barocca has chosen a course that runs counter to classical concert practice: not a repertoire carousel of familiar masterworks, but a thoughtful, almost stubborn exploration of rarely heard repertoire. In 2026 too, this principle remains intact, with the oboe as a guiding thread.
The principle is as simple as it is radical. Three composers – Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750), Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1767) and Christoph Graupner (1683-1760) – form the fixed frame of reference again this year, from Saturday 23 to Monday 25 May, but are each time viewed through a single instrument. This forces choices, and above all, the abandonment of routine. Familiar works give way to rarely heard compositions, and performers are brought together in temporary constellations that inspire curiosity rather than routine.
Central to all this is Florian Heyerick, the driving force behind the festival. His role is difficult to capture in a single word: he is simultaneously curator, conductor, storyteller and – not least – instigator of musical curiosity. Heyerick's long-standing commitment to Graupner's oeuvre resonates here as well, but without ever becoming doctrinaire. On the contrary, he builds programmes that ask questions rather than provide answers.
The 2026 edition puts the oboe front and centre as a dramaturgical instrument. This proves to be no arbitrary choice. In baroque repertoire, the oboe holds a special place: as a soloist, as colour in the orchestra, and as a rhetorical instrument that makes the doctrine of affects almost tangible. Its sound – at once intrusive and vulnerable – serves here as a guide through the programme.
This programme unfolds as a carefully constructed intellectual movement. The opening concert "De profundis aut de caelis?" immediately sets the tone with an exploration of the expressive extremes of the oboe in Bach, Telemann and Graupner. Subsequently, lectures such as "Bach and the oboe?", "Telemann and the oboe?" and "Graupner and the oboe?" deepen the historical and stylistic context, without lapsing into academic dryness.
Chamber music holds a prominent place in concerts such as "Petite musique de chambre?" and "All of Telemann?", where the oboe reveals itself as a partner in dialogue rather than as a solistic showcase. The final concert "Also hat Gott die Welt geliebt?" brings the instrument in its most rhetorical guise, embedded in cantatas where vocal and instrumental lines interweave.
Also noteworthy is the opening outside the strict baroque context. In the family concert "Double Trouble?" the world of the double reed is opened up to other styles, with a nod to both renaissance and jazz. In doing so, the focus shifts from purely historically informed performance to a broader musical practice, in which improvisation and contemporary playing styles also find their place. This typifies a festival that is not afraid to explore boundaries, as long as musical integrity remains intact.
As always, Cydonia Barocca is more than a series of concerts. Presentations, an open stage for (baroque) oboists and informal gatherings are an integral part of the experience. The audience is not served, but challenged – and therein lies the strength of the concept.
Cydonia Barocca 2026 confirms what the festival has long suggested: the baroque is not a closed past, but a living workshop. In this workshop, the oboe this time becomes the compass – less a soloist than a directional element in listening itself.
And then there is the quince, after which the festival names itself: a silent guide that leads you from one refreshing and sometimes unexpected culinary discovery to the next. In its roundness, fullness and soft intensity, it reflects something of the tangible beauty of German baroque – an aesthetics that wants not only to be heard, but also tasted and experienced. Klassiek Centraal is already looking forward to this voyage of discovery and will report on several concerts in due course.
