PIÙ MOSSO BAROQUE – Harpsichord Concertos & Comic Cantatas
The New Orleans Chamber Orchestra (www.nolachamberorch.com) presents a concert of Baroque Harpsichord Concertos and Comic Cantatas with conductor/harpsichordist Paul Mauffray, vocal soloists Rachel Looney (Saturday), Kristin Schmitz (Sunday), Ken Weber, Bogdan Mynka, and Kevin Rouchell, directed by Ivan Griffin.
Featuring music of Vivaldi, Bach and Rameau Harpsichord Concertos, the Telemann CANARY Cantata, and the Bach COFFEE Cantata.
In 1737, a patron of Georg Philipp Telemann commissioned a cantata in memory of his pet canary that had been killed by a cat. And thus Telemann composed this comic/tragic work, “Funeral Cantata for an Artistically Trained Canary-Bird Whose Demise Brought the Greatest Sorrow to His Master”. The Canary Cantata will be sung in English by baritone Ken Weber.
- S. Bach’s “Coffee Cantata” is a secular, mini-comic opera composed around 1735 for Leipzig’s Café Zimmermann. It satirizes 18th-century coffee sentiment through the story of a father trying to break his daughter of her coffee addiction. The Coffee Cantata will be sung in German by Ken Weber with Rachel Looney and Kevin Rouchell on Saturday, and with Kristin Schmitz and Bogdan Mynka on Sunday.
Along with these comic cantatas will be a virtuosic tenor aria by Vivaldi performed by Bogdan Mynka on Saturday, and Kevin Rouchell on Sunday. Another highlight of the program will be two Baroque Harpsichord Concertos by Jean-Philippe Rameau and Johann Sebastian Bach played by Paul Mauffray on his French double-manual harpsichord which is a replica of a 1769 instrument from Paris.
The five vocal soloists and harpsichord will be accompanied by a chamber orchestra of strings, playing with Baroque bows, and featuring cellist Manuel Papale, and flute soloist Ji Weon Ryu.
Tickets $25 general admission, $40 priority seating, $13 students, available on Eventbrite:
SATURDAY ticket link: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/1982538012564
SUNDAY ticket link: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/1982542260269
Complete program (ca. 90 minutes)
Made possible with support from: The Gayle and Tom Benson Charitable Foundation, Hawkins Investments Inc., the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation, and the New Orleans Tourism and Cultural Foundation.
