SFGC Gives Vivaldi a Video Treatment

Poster design for the program being discussed (created by Entropy, from the program’s event page)

This is the month in which the San Francisco Girls Chorus (SFGC) will give its first full concert performance in cyberspace. Readers may recall from the announcement of plans for the fall season that the program will be organized around the performance of excerpts from Antonio Vivaldi’s only surviving oratorio, Juditha Triumphans (Judith triumphant), based on the Book of Judith from the Apocrypha. Instead of a traditionally staged performance captured on video, videographer Mike Axinn of One to One Box will develop a project based on the video medium. The performance of the music will be supplemented with video clips and artwork to highlight both the SFGC choristers as they discover and learn about their roles and the impact of dramatic movement on the presentation of the narrative. Céline Ricci, Artistic Director of Ars Minerva, will serve as Stage Director for this production; and harpsichordist Corey Jamason will appear as a guest artist.

The program will also present music by two women, both of whom were active composers earlier than Vivaldi, during the seventeenth century. The more familiar of these will probably be Barbara Strozzi, who will be represented by two selections. Così non la voglio (so I don’t want it) is one of the fifteen cantatas in her Opus 7 collection, Diporti di Euterpe (Euterpe’s pleasure), scored for soprano and continuo. This will be followed by “Mercé de voi” (thanks to you) from her Opus 1 collection of polyphonic a cappella madrigals. “O dilecto O amatissime Jesu” (O dear and beloved Jesus) is a sacred solo song by the lesser known Isabella Leonarda.

This performance will begin at 7 p.m. on Friday, November 20, at which time it will be available for viewing and listening through a video uploaded to the San Francisco Girls Chorus YouTube channel. Access to the video will be free and open to the public. However, a suggested ticket donation of $25 will help to offset the cost of video production and the appearances of the guest artists. A reservation will be required to receive the hyperlink to the YouTube Web page, and the event page for this concert includes a hyperlink for making such reservations.