Yesterday’s mail brought my first news of the annual Summer Bach Festival to be held by American Bach Soloists (ABS). This will consist of seven concerts, two of which will not involve any member of the Bach family. However, as in the past, they will all offer consistently imaginative programming presented by engaging performers. Specifics will be as follows:
Saturday, July 23, 8 p.m.: The series will begin with a program entitled Flames of Love. This refers to George Frideric Handel’s HWV 170 secular cantata Tra le fiamme (in flames). The music is scored for soprano and instruments, and the vocalist will be Mary Wilson. She will also sing the HWV 99 cantata Il delirio amoroso (the amorous delirium). The instrumental portion of the program will present concertos by Georg Philipp Telemann, Antonio Vivaldi, and Johann Sebastian Bach.
Sunday, July 24, 4 p.m.: The Harmonic Labyrinth is named after the last of the twelve concertos in the Opus 3 publication of Pietro Locatelli. The concerto was given the title “Il Laberinto Armonico, facilus aditus, difficilis exitus” (the harmonic labyrinth, easy to enter, difficult to escape); and it is notorious for the technical demands that confront the violin soloist. The other concertante selection will be a Telemann concerto for four violins in D major. Telemann will also be represented by his D major “Paris” quartet. Bach will be represented by his BWV 1067 orchestral suite in B minor and his BWV 202 “wedding” cantata, Weichet nur, betrübte Schatten (dissipate, you troublesome shadows). Wilson will again be the vocalist.
Tuesday, July 26, 7 p.m.: Classical Genius will be a program featuring two composers whose talents emerged at an early age. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart will be represented by his K. 285 flute quartet in D major and his K. 581 clarinet quintet in A major. The program will then conclude with Felix Mendelssohn’s Opus 20 string octet in E-flat major.
Thursday, July 28, 7 p.m.: Readers may recall that, in August of 2019, the Festival included a program entitled Bach to Bluegrass & Beyond. The program consisted of two sets. The first involved bluegrass curated by bass player Daniel Turkos, and it was followed by a jazz set curated by Kit Massey playing both piano and violin. Turkos and Massey will return with a new program entitled Bach & Jazz: Blowin’ the Blues Away.
Friday, July 29, 7 p.m.: Barococo is named after a term coined by musicologist H. C. Robbins Landon but best known to those of my generation through radio broadcasts by Seymour DeKoven (who disliked having his first name announced). As this program is described, “The galant styles of High Baroque and Rococo music join hands in the mature works by Bach and [Jean-Philippe] Rameau.” The program will also include concertos by Handel and Vivaldi.
Saturday, July 30, 7 p.m.: Prior to the COVID pandemic, the Summer Festival would feature a full-evening vocal work, usually by Handel. That tradition will return with a performance of Handel’s HWV 61 oratorio Belshazzar. The performance will include five vocal soloists, including tenor Matthew Hill in the title role.
Sunday, July 31, 4 p.m.: The title of the final program will be Bach, Barges, and a Burlesque. Those familiar with music history will probably recognize that the barges were involved in the performance of Handel’s Water Music, and ABS will play the first of those three suites, HWV 348 in F major. This will conclude the program, which will begin with Bach’s BWV 1068 orchestral suite in D major. The middle of the program will be devoted to Telemann, featuring his “burlesque,” an overture based on the narrative of Miguel de Cervantes’ epic novel Don Quixote.
Tickets are now on sale for all of the above events. The performances will be held in Herbst Theatre, which is located on the southwest corner of Van Ness Avenue and McAllister Street. Tickets will be sold for prices between $25 and $99. There will also be a VIP Section, whose tickets will cost $125. All seats will be reserved, and masks must be worn at all times. A single Web page has been created for purchasing all tickets to all of the concerts.
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