Programs Announced for ABS Discovery Series

As was the case prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, American Bach Soloists (ABS) will prepare a subscription series of three concerts to be presented during the first half of this year. This will be called Discovery Series: 2023, described as “Exploring Great Artistry and Great Music.” As in the past, all San Francisco performances will be held at St. Mark’s Lutheran Church beginning at 4 p.m. on Sunday afternoons. The conductor will be Artistic Director Jeffrey Thomas. Programming for these concerts will be as follows:

February 5, Bravura Bach: As the title suggests, Johann Sebastian Bach will receive the most attention on this program. He will be represented by two concertos and a cantata. The first of the concertos will be BWV 1048, the third of the “Brandenburg” concertos in G major, scored for three violins, three violas, three cellos, and continuo. The second will be BWV 1052 in D minor, often called Bach’s first harpsichord concerto. The harpsichord soloist will be Gabriel Benton. The cantata will be BWV 51, Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen (exult in God in every land). Featured soloists will be soprano Hélène Brunet and trumpeter Steven Marquardt. The other featured soloist will be bassoonist Nate Helgeson, who will perform Antonio Vivaldi’s RV 501 concerto in B-flat major, given the title “La Notte” (the night). Brunet will also be the soloist in RV 601, Vivaldi’s “Laudate pueri Dominum” (praise ye the Lord) setting of Psalm 112. The program will begin with Georg Philipp Telemann’s TWV 44:1 three-movement “Sinfonia Spirituoso.”

March 12, A Musical Feast: This program will feature two flute soloists, Sandra Miller and Bethanne Walker. They will be featured in the “Overture” music included in Telemann’s Tafelmusik (music for a banquet) collection, along with additional selected movements. This festive culinary setting will be preceded by a short ballet by Georg Muffat entitled “A Splendid Wedding.” Bach will be represented by the C minor trio sonata that was included in his BWV 1079 Musical Offering collection. The program will also include another Vivaldi concerto, RV 428, which is the third concerto in his Opus 10 collection, given the title “Il gardellino” (the goldfinch). The program will conclude with an overture in E major by English composer Maurice Greene, the founder of the Academy of Ancient Music.

May 7, Harmonious Love: The season will conclude with two narrative offerings. The first of these will be George Frideric Handel’s HWV 122 secular cantata Apollo e Dafne. This will be followed by Jean-Philippe Rameau’s one-act opera “Pygmalion.” The participating vocalists will be sopranos Mary Wilson, Amy Broadbent, and Morgan Balfour, tenor Matthew Hill, and bass-baritone Mischa Bouvier.

St. Mark’s Lutheran Church is located at 1111 O’Farrell Street, just west of the corner of Franklin Street. As of this writing, all tickets are for individual performances. A Web page has been crested on the ABS Web site with hyperlinks for the individual concerts. Ticket prices are between $39 and $101.