David Daniels

January Program

January 15-21
San Francisco (Herbst), Berkeley, Atherton

Nicholas McGegan, conductor
David Daniels, countertenor

VIVALDI: Stabat Mater, RV 621
HANDEL: Arias from Giulio Cesare (Julius Ceasar)
TELEMANN: Suite in F major, TWV 55:F11 “Alster Overture”

Music Director Nicholas McGegan conducts Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra and world-renowned countertenor David Daniels in a program of baroque music originally written for the castrato voice.

Male voices that can be developed naturally into a beautiful soprano or alto are very rare. Yet in the baroque period, such voices were immensely popular. That demand was filled by castrated men – the castrati.

The practice of castration expressly to manage the singing voice seems to have begun in the 16th century. The Roman Catholic Church had banned women from performing sacred or dramatic music, and the voices of children and falsettists were found to be unreliable substitutes. The castrato voice thus became highly prized – indeed, so highly prized that the demand for castrati continued well after women could again take roles. The fashion reached its height with baroque opera seria, in which the high male voice symbolized heroic virtue.

Senesino (1686-1758), the most famous castrato of his day, was cast in the leading role for nearly half of the 50 opera seria composed by George Frideric Handel. Our program includes arias from Handel’s Giulio Cesare, considered to be the composer’s finest opera seria and among those in which Senesino originally performed the title role.

Today the castrato voice is replaced by that of a countertenor, a man who is able to develop a high singing range. Our guest artist, David Daniels, is renowned for a voice of singular warmth and beauty, a magnetic stage presence, and the skillful expansion of the countertenor repertoire. In addition to the selections from Giulio Cesare, Daniels sings Antonio Vivaldi’s powerful and compelling setting of the sacred work, Stabat Mater.

The Orchestra will also perform Georg Philipp Telemann’s imaginative “Alster Overture,” which musically depicts a German lake. Telemann’s clever imitations of frogs, swans, and crows are a delight to hear.

Don’t miss this evening of very special music with Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra and David Daniels.

More Information

Nicholas McGegan
David Daniels
Antonio Vivaldi
George Frideric Handel
Georg Philipp Telemann