St Petersburg, Concert Hall

The Venice Baroque Orchestra. Viva Vivaldi


Third concert of the thirtieth subscription

Soloist: Sonia Prina (contralto)


PROGRAMME:
Antonio Vivaldi
Symphony in C Major from the opera Il Giustino
Orlando’s aria Sorge l’irato nembo from Act II of the opera Orlando furioso
Alcina’s aria Così potessi anch’io from Act II of the opera Orlando furioso
Concerto in G Major for Two Violins and Basso Continuo, RV 516
Juditha’s aria Agitata infido flatu from the oratorio Juditha Triumphans
Symphony in G Minor for Strings and Basso Continuo, RV 157
Griselda’s aria Infelice Griselda... Ho il cor già lacero from Act I of the opera La Griselda
Concerto in B Minor for Four Violins and Basso Continuo, RV 580
Licida’s aria Mentre dormi from Act I of the opera L’Olimpiade
Orlando’s aria Nel profondo cieco mondo from Act I of the opera Orlando furioso

Founded in 1997 by Baroque scholar and harpsichordist Andrea Marcon, the Venice Baroque Orchestra is recognised as one of the very finest period instrument ensembles. The orchestra has received wide critical acclaim for its concert and opera performances throughout North America, Europe, South America, Japan, Korea, Taiwan and China. The orchestra has appeared in many more cities across the United States than any other baroque orchestra in history. They also maintain a regular touring schedule to Asia.
Committed to the rediscovery of 17th and 18th century masterpieces, under Andrea Marcon’s leadership the Venice Baroque Orchestra has given modern-day premieres of Francesco Cavalli’s L’Orione, Vivaldi’s Atenaide and Andromeda liberata, Benedetto Marcello’s La morte d’Adone and Il trionfo della poesia e della musica and Boccherini’s La Clementina. With the Teatro la Fenice in Venice, the orchestra has staged Cimarosa’s L’Olimpiade, Handel’s Siroe, re di Persia, and Galuppi’s L'Olimpiade, as well as reprising Siroe, re di Persia at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in New York in its first full staging in the United States. The orchestra has been seen worldwide through several television specials, including films by the BBC, ARTE, NTR (The Netherlands) and NHK. They have been the subject of three recent video recordings, and their performances were also featured on Swiss TV in the documentary film Vivaldi in Venice by Richard Dindo.
The 2013-14 season featured extensive tours of Europe, the United States and Asia with countertenor Philippe Jaroussky, concerts with contralto Marie-Nicole Lemieux in France and Belgium, performances with cellist Gautier Capuçon including Vienna’s Musikverein and with cellist Mario Brunello in the USA, with recorder-player Maurice Steger in Germany and Switzerland and with violinist Giuliano Carmignola in Austria, Germany and Hungary.
Highlights from 2011 to 2013 included a nine-city United States tour of the orchestra’s baroque concertos programme featuring the ensemble’s own soloists, the season-opening concerts of the Sala Santa Cecilia in Rome’s Auditorium Parco della Musica and of the Teatro Mayor in Bogotá, Vivaldi’s Stabat Mater and Gloria at the Bruges Concertgebouw, concerts in Lisbon and France with soprano Patricia Petibon, performances of Metastasio’s L’Olimpiade in London, Dijon, Brussels, Paris, Athens and Siena, performances with Giuliano Carmignola at the Enescu, Gstaad and Dubrovnik Festivals, with recorder-player Anna Fusek in the Czech Republic, Italy and Russia with mezzo-soprano Romina Basso and a tour with mezzo-soprano Magdalena Kožená including the Istanbul Festival and the Mariinsky Theatre in St Petersburg.
Highly unusual for a baroque ensemble, the Venice Baroque Orchestra premiered a major contemporary work in the USA – Philip Glass’ violin concerto The American Four Seasons. With violinist Robert McDuffie the orchestra appeared in twenty-eight cities across the continent in 2010. Additional highlights of past seasons included several tours of Japan and Korea with Giuliano Carmignola, concerts in Europe with Patricia Petibon, Gautier Capuçon and Romina Basso, Vivaldi’s La senna festeggiante at Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater at the Théâtre des Champs Élysées with soprano Veronica Cangemi and contralto Sara Mingardo, Monteverdi’s Vespers in Leipzig and a tour of festivals in Austria, Germany and Switzerland with Magdalena Kožená.
The forthcoming 2014-15 season will include concerts with mandolin-player Avi Avital in Italy, Croatia, Germany, Mexico and across the USA, performances with contralto Marie-Nicole Lemieux in Paris, Moscow and St Petersburg, a first collaboration with violinist Nicola Benedetti in Baden-Baden and the release of the Deutsche Grammophon recording of mandolin concertos with Avi Avital.
The orchestra’s latest recording – of Porpora arias featuring Philippe Jaroussky with special guest Cecilia Bartoli – was released by Erato in autumn 2013. Their 2012 release on Naïve, a pasticcio of Metastasio’s L’Olimpiade featuring the recording premieres of many 18th century opera arias, was awarded Choc du Monde de la Musique. The Venice Baroque Orchestra has an extensive discography with Sony and Deutsche Grammophon. Their world-premiere recording of Andromeda liberata for Deutsche Grammophon was followed by violin concertos with Giuliano Carmignola, Vivaldi sinfonias, concertos for strings, motets and arias with soprano Simone Kermes, two discs with Magdalena Kožená (Handel arias and Vivaldi arias), Vivaldi violin concertos with Viktoria Mullova and Giuliano Carmignola and Italian arias with Patricia Petibon. The orchestra’s earlier recordings on Sony with Carmignola include The Four Seasons, previously unrecorded Vivaldi concertos and a collection of Bach arias featuring Angelika Kirchschlager. The orchestra has been honoured with the Diapason d’Or, Choc du Monde de la Musique, the Echo award and the Edison Award.
The Venice Baroque Orchestra is supported by the Fondazione Cassamarca in Treviso.

Age category 6+

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