Monday, February 13
American Bach Soloists, Jeffrey Thomas, Conductor
“A Weekend in Paris” When Jean-Baptiste Lully’s monopoly on music in France ended at the end of the 17th century, an explosion of musical creativity erupted in Paris from a new generation of composers including Marais, Rebel, Corrette, Mondonville, and the great master of the age, Jean-Philippe Rameau. Featuring a selection of enchanting works for the Opéra, Ballet, and Chapelle, Thomas and ABS explore the vibrant Parisian spirit of invention, including its incorporation of new, cosmopolitan influences from abroad. The Italian style, especially, is evident in these works, as evidenced by Corrette’s Laudate Dominum, which includes an interpolation of Vivaldi’s “Spring” from The Four Seasons arranged for choir, vocal soloists, and orchestra. Program includes Rameau, Suite from Dardanus; Corrette, Laudate Dominum de coelis (Vivaldi’s “Spring”); Rebel, Les caractères de la danse; Mondonville, In Exitu Israel; and Marais, Suite from Sémélé. With soloists Nola Richardson soprano; Steven Brennfleck haute-contre (debut); William Sharp baritone; and the American Bach Choir.
7 PM
Davis Community Church
412 C Street, Davis
$33–$85
Tickets online
Tuesday, February 14
Noontime Concerts
“The Voices of Saint Valentine” San Francisco Renaissance Voices, Katherine McKee Roberts, Director, performs a concert for St. Valentine’s Day. Program includes Johannes Ockeghem, Missa Ma Maitresse; Heinrich Isaac, Missa Virgo Prudentissima; and Robert Fayrfax, Eterne Laudis Lilium.
12:30 PM
Old St. Mary’s Cathedral
660 California St., San Francisco
Free
415-777-3211, www.noontimeconcerts.org
Wednesday, February 15
San Francisco Recorder Society
Monthly playing session with conductor Peter Maund. New members and guests welcome.
7:30 PM–9:30 PM
Christ Church Lutheran
1090 Quintara St. (at 20th Ave.), San Francisco.
Non-members $10 fee applied to membership.
For more information contact Florence Kress: 415-731-9709, [email protected]
arssanfrancisco.org/
Thursday, February 16
Jennifer Paulino, John Dornenburg, and Elaine Thornburgh
“Cantates françoises” Jennifer Paulino, soprano; John Dornenburg, viola da gamba; and Elaine Thornburgh, harpsichord, perform Louis-Nicolas Clérambault’s exquisite cantata Zéphire et Flore alongside Jean-Philippe Rameau’s robust L’Impatience plus Pièces de Clavecin by Louis Couperin and Pièces de Viole by Marin Marais.
7:30 PM
Memorial Church
450 Serra Mall, Stanford
Free
Information online
Friday, February 17
Hillside Club Concert Series
“At the Opera III” The New Esterházy Quartet recreates a popular 18th-century home entertainment: playing opera highlights in arrangements for string quartet. It was a way for audiences to re-live their visit to the opera, and music publishers made good money printing such arrangements for piano four-hands or string quartet. On the program: Mozart’s Cosi fan tutte (18th-century arrangement) and Philidor’s Les Femmes Vengées (arrangement by William Skeen). Read more . . .
8 PM
Hillside Club
2286 Cedar Street (at Spruce), Berkeley
$25
Tickets for this Friday concert sold only at the door
SFEMS presents ARTEK, Gwendolyn Toth, Director
“Bridge of Sighs—Monteverdi’s Madrigals Book VII” ARTEK (Laura Heimes and Clara Rottsolk, soprano; Barbara Hollinshead, mezzo-soprano; Ryland Angel, countertenor & tenor; Andrew Fuchs and Philip Anderson, tenor; Peter Becker, bass-baritone; Daniel Swenberg, theorbo; Gwendolyn Toth, harpsichord) performs selections from Claudio Monteverdi’s Seventh Book of Madrigals. Published in 1619, the seventh book contains some of the composer’s most beloved baroque works—passionate solos, duets, trios and more, including Tornate o cari baci, Augellin che la voce, and O viva fiamma. ARTEK, currently in the midst of recording this music, is renowned for exciting, dramatic performances of baroque music, especially Monteverdi. Innovative staging often infuses their performances with vitality and sometimes humor. It is not only the beauty of their voices but the clarity with which they express the texts and their meaning, which distinguishes this fine group. Read more . . .
8 PM
First Presbyterian Church
1140 Cowper Street at Lincoln, Palo Alto
Tickets: General $40, Seniors $36, SFEMS Members $34, Students $12
Tickets online or 510-528-1725
Saturday, February 18
Foothill Community Concert Series
“Go For Baroque” Laudami Ensemble (violinist Laura Rubinstein-Salzedo and harpsichordist Michael Peterson) perform works of Arcangelo Corelli, George Frideric Handel, Antonio Vivaldi, and Johann Sebastian Bach.
7:30 PM
Foothill Presbyterian Church
5301 McKee Road, San Jose
$15; children 12 and under are free.
Tickets online or at the door
New Esterházy Quartet
“At the Opera III” The New Esterházy Quartet recreates a popular 18th-century home entertainment: playing opera highlights in arrangements for string quartet. It was a way for audiences to re-live their visit to the opera, and music publishers made good money printing such arrangements for piano four-hands or string quartet. On the program: Mozart’s Cosi fan tutte (18th-century arrangement) and Philidor’s Les Femmes Vengées (arrangement by William Skeen). Read more . . .
4PM
St. Mark’s Lutheran Church
1111 O’Farrell Street, San Francisco
$30 (discounts for SFEMS members, seniors, and students)
415-520-0611 www.newesterhazy.org
SFEMS presents ARTEK, Gwendolyn Toth, Director
“Bridge of Sighs—Monteverdi’s Madrigals Book VII” ARTEK (Laura Heimes and Clara Rottsolk, soprano; Barbara Hollinshead, mezzo-soprano; Ryland Angel, countertenor & tenor; Andrew Fuchs and Philip Anderson, tenor; Peter Becker, bass-baritone; Daniel Swenberg, theorbo; Gwendolyn Toth, harpsichord) performs selections from Claudio Monteverdi’s Seventh Book of Madrigals. Published in 1619, the seventh book contains some of the composer’s most beloved baroque works—passionate solos, duets, trios and more, including Tornate o cari baci, Augellin che la voce, and O viva fiamma. ARTEK, currently in the midst of recording this music, is renowned for exciting, dramatic performances of baroque music, especially Monteverdi. Innovative staging often infuses their performances with vitality and sometimes humor. It is not only the beauty of their voices but the clarity with which they express the texts and their meaning, which distinguishes this fine group. Read more . . .
7:30 PM
St. John’s Presbyterian Church
2727 College Ave at Garber, Berkeley
Tickets: General $40, Seniors $36, SFEMS Members $34, Students $12
Tickets online or 510-528-1725
San Francisco Renaissance Voices, Katherine McKee, Music Director
“Lady, My Lady” This program of warmth, passion and beauty of music and poetry from the 12th through the 17th centuries features an extremely rare performance of Giovanni Pierluigi Palestrina’s exquisite motet Susanna ab Improbis Senibus that tells the biblical story of Susanna and the elders. Other musical treasures include fragments of Johannes Ockeghem’s lady mass, Missa Ma Maitresse and other musical gems dedicated to The Lady and ladies of the Renaissance: Robert Fayrfax’s Eterne Laudis Lilium (from the Lambeth Choirbook), Tomás Luis de Victoria’s Versa est in luctum (composed by Victoria for the funeral of his patron, the Archduchess Maria of Austria and performed in memory of San Francisco Renaissance Voices baritone Raymond Martinez), Jacob Gallus’ Tota Pulchra est, amica mea, songs and arias by Lady Mary Dering and Giovanni Pietro Biandra, trouvère songs by Blanche de Castille and Maroie de Diergnau, madrigals by Casulana, Hassler, Josquin, Rossi and Steffens and poetry from the Findern manuscript, and by Christine de Pizan, Hadewijch of Antwerp, Teresa of Avila, Mechtild of Magdeburg, and Devora Ascarelli. With guest artists Derek Tam, harpsichord, and Tatiana Senderowicz, theorbo.
7:30 PM
St. Mark’s Lutheran Church
1111 O’Farrell Street, San Francisco
Tickets: $30 General, $25 Student/Senior, $20 Child Age 12 or under; at the door a half-hour before each show or at www.SFRVoices.org
Tactus, Tanmoy Laskar, Director
Tactus, a new Renaissance chorus, presents a chamber concert on the twin themes of Sanctuary and Exile. A Sanctuary is a place where one can retreat, feel safe, and gather strength at trying times. Such a sanctuary can also be mis-appropriated by those who feel threatened, to the detriment of the “others”, whom they ostracize and exile. By damming the river of change and keeping out those who seek to differ, the sanctuary becomes stagnant, resulting in decay, and ultimately, destruction. The 90-minute program centers around the twin stories of the fall of the ancient sanctuary of Jerusalem via settings from the book of Lamentations, and the crucifixion of Jesus, the Sanctuary of souls, via Lenten polyphony. In conjunction with Renaissance polyphony presented by the full choir and subsets, and unified via organ interludes by Bill Visscher, we will present readings from our first poetry competition. Join us for a unique concert experience that juxtaposes contemporary and classical themes, the Old Testament and the New Testament, and ancient riffs with newly composed music, together ushering Renaissance polyphony into the 21st century.
8 PM
St Matthew’s Lutheran Church
3281 16th Street, San Francisco
Free. Suggested donation $15
Tickets online
Sunday, February 19
Laudami
“Bach to Italy” Laudami Ensemble demonstrates the wildly dazzling improvisational displays of Baroque Italy and shows how they influenced the music of Johann Sebastian Bach. Violinist Laura Rubinstein-Salzedo and harpsichordist Michael Peterson join forces to showcase masters of the Italian style. After journeying through works from seventeenth-century Italy and Germany, they will conclude with one of Bach’s finest violin sonatas. A co-presentation of the San Francisco Early Music Society and the California Jazz Conservatory.
4:30 PM
California Jazz Conservatory
2087 Addison St., Berkeley
$20
Tickets online
New Esterházy Quartet
“At the Opera III” The New Esterházy Quartet recreates a popular 18th-century home entertainment: playing opera highlights in arrangements for string quartet. It was a way for audiences to re-live their visit to the opera, and music publishers made good money printing such arrangements for piano four-hands or string quartet. On the program: Mozart’s Cosi fan tutte (18th-century arrangement) and Philidor’s Les Femmes Vengées (arrangement by William Skeen). Read more . . .
4 PM
All Saints’ Episcopal Church,
555 Waverley Street (at Hamilton), Palo Alto
$30 (discounts for SFEMS members, seniors, and students)
415-520-0611 www.newesterhazy.org
SFEMS presents ARTEK, Gwendolyn Toth, Director
“Bridge of Sighs—Monteverdi’s Madrigals Book VII” ARTEK (Laura Heimes and Clara Rottsolk, soprano; Barbara Hollinshead, mezzo-soprano; Ryland Angel, countertenor & tenor; Andrew Fuchs and Philip Anderson, tenor; Peter Becker, bass-baritone; Daniel Swenberg, theorbo; Gwendolyn Toth, harpsichord) performs selections from Claudio Monteverdi’s Seventh Book of Madrigals. Published in 1619, the seventh book contains some of the composer’s most beloved baroque works—passionate solos, duets, trios and more, including Tornate o cari baci, Augellin che la voce, and O viva fiamma. ARTEK, currently in the midst of recording this music, is renowned for exciting, dramatic performances of baroque music, especially Monteverdi. Innovative staging often infuses their performances with vitality and sometimes humor. It is not only the beauty of their voices but the clarity with which they express the texts and their meaning, which distinguishes this fine group. Read more . . .
4 PM
St. Mark’s Lutheran Church
1111 O’Farrell at Gough, San Francisco
Tickets: General $40, Seniors $36, SFEMS Members $34, Students $12
Tickets online or 510-528-1725
San Francisco Renaissance Voices, Katherine McKee, Music Director
“Lady, My Lady” This program of warmth, passion and beauty of music and poetry from the 12th through the 17th centuries features an extremely rare performance of Giovanni Pierluigi Palestrina’s exquisite motet Susanna ab Improbis Senibus that tells the biblical story of Susanna and the elders. Other musical treasures include fragments of Johannes Ockeghem’s lady mass, Missa Ma Maitresse and other musical gems dedicated to The Lady and ladies of the Renaissance: Robert Fayrfax’s Eterne Laudis Lilium (from the Lambeth Choirbook), Tomás Luis de Victoria’s Versa est in luctum (composed by Victoria for the funeral of his patron, the Archduchess Maria of Austria and performed in memory of San Francisco Renaissance Voices baritone Raymond Martinez), Jacob Gallus’ Tota Pulchra est, amica mea, songs and arias by Lady Mary Dering and Giovanni Pietro Biandra, trouvère songs by Blanche de Castille and Maroie de Diergnau, madrigals by Casulana, Hassler, Josquin, Rossi and Steffens and poetry from the Findern manuscript, and by Christine de Pizan, Hadewijch of Antwerp, Teresa of Avila, Mechtild of Magdeburg, and Devora Ascarelli. With guest artists Derek Tam, harpsichord, and Tatiana Senderowicz, theorbo.
4 PM
St. Mark’s Episcopal Church
2300 Bancroft Way, Berkeley
Tickets: $30 General, $25 Student/Senior, $20 Child Age 12 or under; at the door a half-hour before each show or at www.SFRVoices.org
Tactus, Tanmoy Laskar, Director
Tactus, a new Renaissance chorus, presents a chamber concert on the twin themes of Sanctuary and Exile. A Sanctuary is a place where one can retreat, feel safe, and gather strength at trying times. Such a sanctuary can also be mis-appropriated by those who feel threatened, to the detriment of the “others”, whom they ostracize and exile. By damming the river of change and keeping out those who seek to differ, the sanctuary becomes stagnant, resulting in decay, and ultimately, destruction. The 90-minute program centers around the twin stories of the fall of the ancient sanctuary of Jerusalem via settings from the book of Lamentations, and the crucifixion of Jesus, the Sanctuary of souls, via Lenten polyphony. In conjunction with Renaissance polyphony presented by the full choir and subsets, and unified via organ interludes by Bill Visscher, we will present readings from our first poetry competition. Join us for a unique concert experience that juxtaposes contemporary and classical themes, the Old Testament and the New Testament, and ancient riffs with newly composed music, together ushering Renaissance polyphony into the 21st century.
3 PM
St. Jerome’s Catholic Church
308 Carmel Avenue, El Cerrito
Free. Suggested donation $15
Tickets online
Continue reading next week’s calendar . . .
