Whatever storms El Niño may bring this January, the month is guaranteed to end with with a musical blast as the second half of SFEMS’ regular concert series opens with Quicksilver, led by violinists Robert Mealy and Julie Andrijeski. Quicksilver—whose members include Mealy and Andrijeski on violin; Greg Ingles, trombone; Dominic Teresi, dulcian; David Morris, viola da gamba; Avi Stein, harpsichord and organ; and Charles Weaver, theorbo and baroque guitar—have aptly been likened to rock stars by the New York Times. Anyone who heard their performances on our series three years ago or at the 2014 Berkeley Festival knows the power and verve, balanced with grace and delicacy, that this very tight band brings to bear on a repertory that is all about dramatic contrasts and musically getting in touch with your feelings. Quicksilver’s upcoming SFEMS concert, titled “The (very) First Viennese School,” follows the great trans-Alpine wind that stirred the courts of Holy Roman Emperors Matthias to Leopold I.
Music in Vienna had its first flourishing long before the era of Mozart and Haydn. The splendid 17th-century courts of the Holy Roman Emperors brought together composers and virtuosi to create a remarkable musical culture. The brilliant music composed for their varied court festivities offered a rich feast of sumptuous sonatas and ingenious ballets. Quicksilver has designed a program that explores the lesser-known generations of composers and musicians who lived in Vienna during this period.
The marriage of Ferdinand II to Eleonora Gonzaga in 1622 ushered in what is sometimes called “the first Viennese school.” Eleonora brought with her to Vienna the composers Buonamente, Valentini and Melli, who introduced the Hapsburg court to the dramatic language of Monteverdi’s stile moderno. The last 40 years of the century witnessed the reign of Leopold I, who oversaw the presentation of “more than 400 musical dramas…including operas, oratorios, ballets, and Carnival entertainments.” His court musicians included Johan Kaspar Kerll and Johann Jacob Fux, “a remarkable figure [who] deserves far more recognition for his music than he has yet received.” For more information on Vienna’s 17th-c. musical culture as well as the specific composers and works on the program, read the superb notes written by co-directors Julie Andrijeski and Robert Mealy.
Quicksilver performs at 8:00 p.m., Friday, January 29, at First Presbyterian Church in Palo Alto; at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, January 30, at St. John’s Presbyterian Church in Berkeley; and at 4:00 p.m., Sunday, January 31, at St. Mark’s Lutheran Church in San Francisco. Order tickets online or through the SFEMS box office at 510-528-1725.
