Hélène Brunet, soprano
Gabriel Benton, harpsichord
Steven Marquardt, trumpet
Nate Helgeson, bassoon
Jeffrey Thomas, conductor
Friday February 3 2023 8:00 p.m. • St. Stephen's Church, Belvedere
Saturday February 4 2023 7:00 p.m. • First Church, Berkeley
Sunday February 5 2023 4:00 p.m. • St. Mark's Church, San Francisco
Monday February 6 2023 7:00 p.m. • Davis Community Church, Davis
The program will last approximately 2 hours with one intermission.
Among Bach's musicians were some of the greatest virtuosi in Germany. His trumpeters were legendary, and he directed performances by some of the finest court orchestras. "Bravura Bach" celebrates the artistry of the American Bach Soloists as they perform an eclectic sampling of some of Bach's most challenging compositions. The impetuous concerto for harpsichord in D minor, the third Brandenburg Concerto — which requires 11 superlative performers — and the brilliant vocal and trumpet fireworks of "Jauchzet Gott" celebrate Bach at his best! More magic is in store with Geminiani's "Follia" and Vivaldi's atmospheric concerto for bassoon titled "La Notte." Two delightful works by Telemann will have their first performances by ABS.
Sandra Miller, flute
Bethanne Walker, flute
Jeffrey Thomas, conductor
Friday March 10 2023 8:00 p.m. • St. Stephen's Church, Belvedere
Saturday March 11 2023 7:00 p.m. • First Church, Berkeley
Sunday March 12 2023 4:00 p.m. • St. Mark's Church, San Francisco
Monday March 13 2023 7:00 p.m. • Davis Community Church, Davis
The program will last approximately 2 hours with one intermission.
Happy festivity is the theme of this program that features music composed for a banquet and a short ballet titled "A Beautiful Wedding," written by Georg Muffat to introduce his musicians to the sounds of Versailles. The mellifluous flauto traverso is brought front and center in Vivaldi's celebration of a singing goldfinch, and truly charming overtures by Maurice Greene — a composer who held all major musical appointments in England and was a founder of the original Academy of Ancient Music — feature a pair of dulcet flutes. The central focal point of this program reflects Bach’s explorations into the most up-do-date styles of his era, coming to monumental fruition in his last works, including “The Musical Offering,” a lofty zenith of the composer's practically scientific application of musical forms that culminates in his most superbly crafted Trio Sonata.
Mary Wilson, soprano
Matthew Hill, tenor
Mischa Bouvier, bass-baritone
Jeffrey Thomas, conductor
Friday May 5 2023 8:00 p.m. • St. Stephen's Church, Belvedere
Saturday May 6 2023 7:00 p.m. • First Church, Berkeley
Sunday May 7 2023 4:00 p.m. • St. Mark's Church, San Francisco
Monday May 8 2023 7:00 p.m. • Davis Community Church, Davis
The program will last approximately 2 hours with one intermission.
Handel’s cantata Apollo & Dafne was written in Venice when he was just 24 years old. It tells the story of Apollo’s vanity as he suggests that even Cupid’s bow is no match for his own. Challenging Apollo’s boastfulness, Cupid shoots his arrows and Apollo falls prey to rapturous yearnings for Dafne. She spurns his advances and, in a desperate effort to escape, is transformed into a laurel tree.
The Pythagorean theory of Musica Universalis ("The Harmony of the Spheres"), built on the premise that music was a central force in the creation of Earth, is given rapturous credence in Handel’s setting of the Ode for Saint Cecilia’s Day, an exquisite Restoration period verse by John Dryden, England’s first Poet Laureate. Arias in praise of flutes, violins, trumpets, organs, and above all the power of harmony make this an absolutely beautiful testament of music's charms!
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