Friday, August 5
American Bach Soloists, Jeffrey Thomas, Conductor
“Carmelite Vespers & Vivaldi’s Gloria” The 2016 American Bach Soloists Festival & Academy opens with Jeffrey Thomas conducting the period-instrument experts of ABS and the American Bach Choir in large-scale sacred works from Baroque Italy. By command of the Church, opera was forbidden when George Frideric Handel arrived in Rome in 1707. Undeterred, the young visitor from Hamburg composed elaborate and highly dramatic works for Roman Carmelite Vespers services including his tour-de-force Dixit Dominus for chorus, orchestra, and vocal soloists, and several motets including Saeviat tellus inter rigores, a setting for virtuoso soprano. Meanwhile, in Venice, Antonio Vivaldi was establishing his own lofty standards for church music at the Ospedale della Pietà. Writing for an ensemble of young women virtuoso instrumentalists and singers, his Salve Regina and Gloria are models of the Italian style, which balances poignant expression with fiery virtuosity. With soloists Mary Wilson and Clara Rottsolk, sopranos; Judith Malafronte, alto; Kyle Stegall, tenor; William Sharp baritone; the American Bach Soloists & American Bach Choir.
8 PM
St. Mark’s Lutheran Church
1111 O’Farrell St., San Francisco
Tickets online $30–$72
415-921-7900, [email protected]
Saturday, August 6
American Bach Soloists
Public Colloquium: “The Grand Tour” Join William Berger—author, lecturer, and writer/producer for the Metropolitan Opera’s radio broadcasts, and commentator on the Met’s Sirius/XM broadcasts—and the ABS Academy Faculty for a lively and informative free colloquium.
2:30 PM
San Francisco Conservatory of Music
50 Oak St., San Francisco
Free, but registration requested. Tickets online
415-921-7900, [email protected]
American Bach Soloists, Jeffrey Thomas, Conductor
“Postcards from the Grand Tour” The second night of the Festival features a collection of captivating works by Italian composers including Albinoni, Caldara, Frescobaldi, Vivaldi, and others. Each piece, a souvenir from a stop along The Grand Tour of sun-drenched Baroque Italy, will be performed by the ABS Academy Faculty, an outstanding group of artists who are all world-wide leaders of the Early Music movement.
8 PM
St. Mark’s Lutheran Church
1111 O’Farrell St., San Francisco
Tickets online $30–$72
415-921-7900, [email protected]
Sunday, August 7
American Bach Soloists, Jeffrey Thomas, Conductor
J.S. Bach’s Mass in B Minor. Jeffrey Thomas leads the ABS Festival Orchestra and American Bach Choir in performances of Bach’s Mass in B Minor on each Festival Sunday. A beloved tradition, the annual performances of this pinnacle work of the repertory feature instrumental and vocal soloists from the ABS Academy. [This work will be repeated on Sunday August 14th in the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.]
7 PM
St. Mark’s Lutheran Church
1111 O’Farrell St., San Francisco
Tickets online $30–$72
415-921-7900, [email protected]
Continue reading next week’s calendar . . .
