Sunday, October 17, 4 p.m.
PAUL O’DETTE, LUTE
Gli tre Orfei
Pieces
for Lute
Paul O'Dette plays songs,
fantasies, ricercars, and dances by the three great sixteenth-century lutenists, Marco dall'Aquila, Alberto Ripa and Francesco
da Milano, who were often compared by contemporaries to the mythical lyre player, Orpheus. Each of them revolutionized lute
music and technique, and Francesco da Milano was praised as "superior to Orpheus and to Apollo".
Sunday, November 7, 4 p.m.
DIABOLUS IN MUSICA
Antoine Guerber, Director, harp and percussion
Rose tres bele
Chansons et polyphonies des Dames trouvères (XIIIe siècle)
Three women from the French vocal ensemble Diabolus in Musica perform thirteenth-century chansons
by the trouvères, accompanied by harp, flute, medieval fiddle, and percussion. What were medieval women like? Sensitive
portraits emerge through love songs, dance songs and religious songs, even though the music was most likely written by men
during this chivalric age.
Sunday, November 21, 4 p.m.
APOLLO’S FIRE
Jeannette Sorrell, Director and harpsichord
Sophie Daneman, Soprano
Fire and Folly
Myths of Love and Betrayal
The English soprano Sophie Daneman joins Apollo’s Fire, the accomplished American baroque
orchestra from Cleveland, in a program of late Baroque vocal and instrumental music. Cantatas by Handel and Montéclair
relate the tragic tales of Armide and Dido respectively; both women were jilted by uncaring lovers. Vivaldi’s La
Folia, built on the famous ground, closes the concert.
Sunday,
December 19, 4 p.m.
BLUE
HERON
Scott Metcalfe, Director,
vielle and harp
Christmas at the
Courts of 15th-Century France, Burgundy and Cyprus
Blue
Heron, the Renaissance choir from Boston and three outstanding
instrumentalists perform music for Advent, Christmas, and the New Year by the most admired fifteenth-century Northern European
composers—Obrecht, Josquin Desprez, Du Fay, Mouton, and Brumel. Their music is framed by plainchant and an anonymous
Christmas motet from a medieval Cypriot manuscript.
A wine and cheese reception follows
the concert.
Sunday, January 16, 4 p.m.
CHOIR OF CORPUS CHRISTI CHURCH
Louise Basbas, Director
Vox dilecti mei
Music of Palestrina and Lassus
The Choir of Corpus Christi Church, Music Before 1800’s resident ensemble, offers
a study in contrasts between the music of two great contemporaries, Palestrina and Lassus. Palestrina’s sensuous Song
of Songs differs dramatically from the concise works of Lassus. However, the two composers’ Magnificats, hymns
and motets share one thing in common: their sublime beauty.
Sunday, January 30, 4 p.m.
JUILLIARD
BAROQUE
Monica Huggett,
Director and violin
The French
Connection
Paris and the Symphonies
Concertantes
Back by popular demand, the nine
international stars of Juilliard Baroque, the faculty of the Historical
Performance Program, play alongside their gifted graduate students of Juilliard415. Variously sized ensembles
of strings, winds, brass, harpsichord and timpani perform symphonies concertantes by Haydn, Mozart, and the dashing,
multi-talented Chevalier Saint-Georges.
Sunday,
February 13, 4 p.m.
POMERIUM
Alexander Blachly, Director
Musica
Vaticana
Music for Renaissance
Popes: 1431-1567
The New York vocal ensemble Pomerium
returns to Music Before 1800 to perform music by the greatest Renaissance composers, commissioned by seven popes from Eugenius
IV to Marcellus II. The stately masses and motets of Du Fay, Josquin Desprez, and Palestrina are placed beside colorful Mannerist
works by Giaches de Wert and Gesualdo, written for non-papal patrons.
Sunday,
March 6, 4 p.m.
CONSTANTINOPLE (American
debut)
Kiya Tabassian, Director and
setar
Françoise Atlan, Voice
Pierre-Yves Martel, Violas da gamba
Ziya Tabassian, Percussion
Ay!! Amor...
The members of Constantinople are joined by singer Françoise Atlan. Of
Jewish origin, she specializes in music from the Mediterranean in occitan, ladino and Arabic languages. The ensemble performs
an exotic collection of songs and dances from many different times and places—Persia, Armenia, Spain, and medieval France—as
well as their own compositions. Women and Love are the themes that unite this strikingly original program.