LAMF – Storms, Shipwrecks, and Sorcery

Storms, Shipwrecks, and Sorcery is a fantastical journey through some of the most dramatic music of the 17th and 18th centuries. This program evokes both literal storms and clouds of rage. Guest soprano Nola Richardson stunningly portrays two sorceresses scorned, both the anguished Armida from Handel’s Armida Abbandonata and the vengeful Médée, namesake of Clérambault’s masterpiece. Artistic advisor and curator Chloe Fedor performs the dizzying La Tempesta di Mare, Vivaldi’s violin concerto depicting a storm at sea.

-This concert features music from the Baroque period of music history, generally from 1600-1750. Familiar composers from this period include Johann Sebastian Bach, Antonio Vivaldi (who wrote The Four Season), George Frideric Handel (who wrote The Messiah), and Johann Pachelbel (whose famous Canon in D is played at many weddings!)
-This concert features a small baroque band including 3 violinists, viola, cello, string bass, harpsichord (a predecessor of the piano), and theorbo, which is a large plucked instrument like a lute or guitar.
-Soprano Nola Richardson is a sought after baroque singer. She will join the instrumentalists on several works called “Cantatas”. These can be compared to a one-woman mini-opera.

Program:
JOHANN HEINRICH SCHMELZER: Die Fechtschule (The Fencing School)
GEORGE FRIDERIC HANDEL: Armida Abbandonata
JOHANN HEINRICH SCHMELZER: Lamento sopra la morte di Ferdinando III
ANTONIO VIVALDI: Violin Concerto Op. 8, No. 5, Tempesta di Mare (Tempest of the Sea)
GIOVANNI BATTISTA BUONAMENTE: Sonata for Three Violins
HENRY PURCELL: Three Parts Upon a Ground
MATTHEW LOCKE: Curtain Tune from The Tempest
LOUIS-NICOLAS CLÉRAMBAULT: Médée
HENRY PURCELL: Chaconne from The Fairy Queen