April Program
April 19-22
Atherton, San Francisco, Berkeley
Nicholas McGegan
Dominique Labelle
Dann Coakwell
Philip Cutlip
Bruce Lamott
Nicholas McGegan, conductor
Dominique Labelle, soprano
Dann Coakwell, tenor
Philip Cutlip, baritone
Philharmonia Chorale, Bruce Lamott, director
HANDEL: Alexander’s Feast
LEARN MORE:
Pre-concert talk (Nicholas McGegan interviewed by Bruce Lamott) at 7:15 PM*
(*6:45 PM on Sunday, April 22)
LISTEN:
Handel: Orlando – “Consolati, o bella” (excerpt)
(Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra with Dominique Labelle (soprano), Susanne Rydén (soprano), and Diana Moore (mezzo-soprano))
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Handel made his fame and fortune in London as a composer of Italian opera, but during the 1730s public interest waned, leaving Handel in search of a new genre to regain his popularity and replenish his rapidly waning bank account. He did not have to look very far: the oratorio was right at hand and ready to provide him with the next stage in his career. Alexander’s Feast belongs to the first phase of that period; written in 1736, it takes its text from John Dryden’s eponymous ode of 1697, telling the story of the feast given by Alexander the Great and his mistress Thaïs prefatory to burning down the captured city of Persepolis. The work’s success at its Covent Garden premiere encouraged Handel to continue writing oratorios, with such beloved masterworks as Saul, Solomon, Israel in Egypt, and Messiah eventually resulting.
Alexander’s Feast displays Handelian oratorio already in full flower, well evolved from the relatively static style of earlier Italian oratorio. In a fluid, flexible, and varied score, Handel tells his story via choruses, arias, recitatives, and (originally) a series of concertos, including an orchestral concerto grosso that will be performed in this concert.
More information
Nicholas McGegan
Dominique Labelle
Dann Coakwell
Philip Cutlip
Philharmonia Chorale
Bruce Lamott
Handel
Alexander’s Feast, or The Power of Music
April Program
April 19-22
Atherton, San Francisco, Berkeley
Nicholas McGegan
Dominique Labelle
Dann Coakwell
Philip Cutlip
Bruce Lamott
Nicholas McGegan, conductor
Dominique Labelle, soprano
Dann Coakwell, tenor
Philip Cutlip, baritone
Philharmonia Chorale, Bruce Lamott, director
HANDEL: Alexander’s Feast
LEARN MORE:
Pre-concert talk (Nicholas McGegan interviewed by Bruce Lamott) at 7:15 PM*
(*6:45 PM on Sunday, April 22)
LISTEN:
Handel: Orlando – “Consolati, o bella” (excerpt)
(Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra with Dominique Labelle (soprano), Susanne Rydén (soprano), and Diana Moore (mezzo-soprano))
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Handel made his fame and fortune in London as a composer of Italian opera, but during the 1730s public interest waned, leaving Handel in search of a new genre to regain his popularity and replenish his rapidly waning bank account. He did not have to look very far: the oratorio was right at hand and ready to provide him with the next stage in his career. Alexander’s Feast belongs to the first phase of that period; written in 1736, it takes its text from John Dryden’s eponymous ode of 1697, telling the story of the feast given by Alexander the Great and his mistress Thaïs prefatory to burning down the captured city of Persepolis. The work’s success at its Covent Garden premiere encouraged Handel to continue writing oratorios, with such beloved masterworks as Saul, Solomon, Israel in Egypt, and Messiah eventually resulting.
Alexander’s Feast displays Handelian oratorio already in full flower, well evolved from the relatively static style of earlier Italian oratorio. In a fluid, flexible, and varied score, Handel tells his story via choruses, arias, recitatives, and (originally) a series of concertos, including an orchestral concerto grosso that will be performed in this concert.
More information
Nicholas McGegan
Dominique Labelle
Dann Coakwell
Philip Cutlip
Philharmonia Chorale
Bruce Lamott
Handel