|
Saturday,
November 3, 2007
at 7:30 p.m.
|
Sunday,
November 4, 2007
at 3:00 p.m.
|
|
Wistariahurst Museum, 238
Cabot St., Holyoke, MA
Map and directions (on
the museum's website)
| First Church of Deerfield (the “Brick Church”)
on Old Main St., Deerfield, MA
Map and
directions (on the church's website)
Map and
picture at Music in Deerfield website
(bottom of page)
|
Advance tickets: $20 general
admission,
$30 preferred seating, $10 students.
Door price: $25 general, $35
preferred,
$10 student.
413-534-8888 Ticket info and order form
|
Supported in part by
|
Left to right: David
Olsson, Peter W. Shea, Kayla Werlin, James Mead, Deanna Joseph, Dorie
Goldman
(Photo by Bill Sitler)
|
Arcadia
Players Presents
Music of Salamone Rossi with Cantabile and Friends
Arcadia Players presents the
vocal ensemble Cantabile with guest in music of the Italian Baroque composer
Salamone Rossi. The two performances will take place Saturday, November 3,
2007, at 7:30 PM at Wistariahurst Museum, 238
Cabot St., Holyoke, Massachusetts, and Sunday, November 4,
2007, at 3:00 PM at First Church of Deerfield (the “Brick Church”)
on Old Main St., Deerfield, Massachusetts.
The concert is devoted to
Italian madrigals and canzonets, sonatas and dances, and Hebrew psalm settings
by Salomone Rossi Hebreo (ca. 1570 – 1630), a Jewish composer and
violinist who worked for the court and theaters of Mantua at the same time as Monteverdi.
Salamone Rossi was a composer on the cusp
of the late Renaissance and early Baroque styles, as was his great colleague in
Mantua,
Monteverdi. It was a time when members of Jewish communities in northern Italy,
though in some ways set apart, achieved distinction in both science and the
arts, including music. Outstanding among the musicians was the singer,
violinist and composer Salamone Rossi, who worked at the court of the Gonzagas,
the Dukes of Mantua, from 1587 to 1628. As a court musician he counted as his
colleagues Claudio Monteverdi, as well as Gastoldi, de Wert and Viadana. Beyond
the court, Rossi took part in a Jewish theater troupe and other Jewish
ensembles. Among his publications are madrigals, dance-like canzonettas, trio
sonatas—which he was the first to publish—and the unique collection
of psalm, hymn and prayer settings called Ha-shirim asher l’Shlomo (“The Song of
Solomon”). These settings in early Baroque style sound not unlike his
secular music, but they are written for voices alone, adhering to the
centuries-old exclusion of instrumental music from the synagogue.
The ensemble Cantabile was founded to sing
vocal chamber music. They specialize in music from the European Renaissance of
the 15th through 17th centuries. Among their programs in the last several years
have been Saints and Sailors: Sacred, Sad and Silly Songs of
the Sixteenth Century and a concert pairing Marenzio’s
madrigal cycle Baci soavi e cari and a complete
performance of Adriano Banchieri’s madrigal comedy Barca di
Venetia per Padova. The ensemble is currently a sextet of Dorie
Goldman, Deanna Joseph, James Mead, David Olsson, Peter W. Shea and Kayla
Werlin.
Their concert for Arcadia offers a variety of both vocal and
instrumental works, sacred and secular, including Hebrew Psalm settings,
Italian madrigals both tawdry and tame, and delightful chamber music by guest
instrumentalists Gregory Hayes, harpsichord, Laurie Rabut, viol, and Robert
Eisenstein and Joseph Jewett, violins.
Robert Eisenstein will give
a pre-concert talk about Rossi and his music 30 minutes before each performance
and will provide commentary during the concert.
Tickets to either
performance may be ordered in advance at 413-534-8888: $20 general admission,
$30 preferred seating, $10 students. Door price is $25
general, $35 preferred, $10 student. Season subscriptions for four concerts plus
a bonus concert are available in advance or at the door. Information is at 413-534-8888
or www.arcadiaplayers.org.
The season sponsor for Arcadia’s 2007–2008
season is WGBY. The Deerfield concert is sponsored by Deerfield Academy.
Since 1989, Arcadia Players
Baroque Ensemble has assembled the region’s finest professional
instrumentalists and singers in performances throughout the Massachusetts Pioneer
Valley. Arcadia Players draws from the broad Baroque—and
slightly later—repertoire to present concerts ranging from large-scale
orchestral works to intimate chamber music. In pursuing its goal of sharing the
riches and authentic spirit of the Baroque era, Arcadia Players has been
recognized as the finest Baroque ensemble in the Pioneer Valley.
