Saturday, August 19
California Bach Society, Paul Flight, Director
California Bach Society presents its 12th annual choral workshop, “Christmas in August.”Director Flight will discuss and rehearse choruses and chorales from the great, glorious, and charming masterwork. The Christmas Oratorio is composed of six cantatas, five of them with elaborate opening choruses. Workshop participants will sing the opening choruses from each cantata, and there will be a selection of chorales, such as “Brich an, O schönes Morgenlicht” and character choruses, such as “Wo ist der neugeborne König der Juden?” and “Lasset uns nun gehen zu Bethlehem.” The workshop takes place from 10:30–3:30 in Palo Alto. The $55 includes both music and lunch. As is customary for CBS’s summer workshops, scores will be will be available for download in advance.
10:30 AM–3:30 PM
Palo Alto venue (address available upon registration)
$55 fee includes music and lunch.
Please register by August 14.
Registration information at www.calbach.org/workshop
650-485-1097 or email [email protected]
L’Esprit Baroque
L’Esprit Baroque (Elysha Massatt and Sarah Massatt, soprano; Sarah Vay Kerns, baroque flute; Sylvia Schwartz, baroque violin; John Ott, cello and viola da gamba; and Janice Massatt, keyboards) returns to Berkeley and the delicious acoustics of University Lutheran Chapel to share some dramatic and beautiful music, including works by the pivotal Italian composer Claudio Monteverdi, his contemporaries, and composers from across Europe who were taught directly and indirectly by Italian musicians. Program includes works by Boismortier (Le Printemps, cantata for soprano, flute, violin, continuo), Handel (A Mirarvi, duet for sopranos and continuo), Vivaldi (All’ombra di sospetto, cantata for soprano, flute, continuo), Pozzi (Salve Regina, for soprano and continuo), Monteverdi (Salve Regina and Ego Flos Campis, for soprano and continuo), Stradella (Sinfonia for Violin, Cello, and Continuo), J.C.F. Bach (Sonata for Flute and Continuo), and C.P.E. Bach (Trio Sonata for Flute, Violin, and Continuo).
5 PM
University Lutheran Chapel
2425 College Ave., Berkeley
$15 at the door. No one will be turned away for lack of funds.
San Francisco Renaissance Voices
Ordo Virtutum Back by popular demand San Francisco Renaissance Voices (Katherine McKee, Music Director) acclaimed East-Indian infused production (“Hildegard’s music rang out anew,” … Los Angeles Times) of Ordo Virtutum (The Play of the Virtues) by the medieval mystic nun Hildegard von Bingen returns! One of the earliest extant liturgical musical dramas that provided the basis for the art form we now know as opera, Ordo Virtutum tells the story of the challenges of The Human Soul (Anime) as she is guided by The Virtues led by their queen Humility, to obtain wholeness of the spirit. Our stellar singers and dancers will be joined by our returning original-cast, internationally-renowned instrumentalists, Deepak Ram (bansuri), Diana Rowan (Celtic harp) and local favorite, Todd Jolly (percussion).
4 PM (Note non-standard concert time)
Episcopal Church of the Incarnation
1750 29th Ave., San Francisco
$15–20
Tickets online or 415-650-6258
West Edge Opera
The Chastity Tree (L’arbore di Diana) by Vicente Martin y Soler. If you know Vicente Martin y Soler at all, chances are good it’s from a tossed off quotation in Don Giovanni, but in their day, both Mozart and Martin y Soler enjoyed equal renown in Vienna. Both set the brilliant words of da Ponte, who rated The Chastity Tree the Spaniard’s best work. A smash hit in 1787, The Chastity Tree is a tale of purity, politics on Mount Olympus, and one unusually judgmental plant. True to fashion, West Edge unearths a hidden gem in a startling new production, which features soprano Christine Brandes and Nikki Einfeld, as well as Barihunk Malte Roesner, who makes his North American debut as Doristo.
3 PM
Pacific Pipe Oakland
1391 W. Grand Ave., Oakland
$96/$57
Tickets online or 510-841-1903
Sunday, August 20
San Francisco Renaissance Voices
Ordo Virtutum Back by popular demand San Francisco Renaissance Voices (Katherine McKee, Music Director) acclaimed East-Indian infused production (“Hildegard’s music rang out anew,” … Los Angeles Times) of Ordo Virtutum (The Play of the Virtues) by the medieval mystic nun Hildegard von Bingen returns! One of the earliest extant liturgical musical dramas that provided the basis for the art form we now know as opera, Ordo Virtutum tells the story of the challenges of The Human Soul (Anime) as she is guided by The Virtues led by their queen Humility, to obtain wholeness of the spirit. Our stellar singers and dancers will be joined by our returning original-cast, internationally-renowned instrumentalists, Deepak Ram (bansuri), Diana Rowan (Celtic harp) and local favorite, Todd Jolly (percussion).
4 PM
St. Stephen’s Church
3 Bayview Avenue, Belvedere
$20–30
Tickets online or 415-650-6258
Continue reading next week’s calendar . . .
