Two stellar ensembles traverse our chamber stages this week. Thursday evening engage in Baroque Conversations downtown at Zipper Hall with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra and conductor and harpsichordist Jory Vinikour. The weekend promises the much-anticipated Musica Angelica concert with Martin Haselböck’s edition of Mozart’s rarely performed opera Zaide.
Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra Baroque Conversations
Jory Vinikour and the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra present an evening of Baroque suites with an interesting collection that illuminates the depth and breadth of the repertoire.
Each of the featured composers brings something unique to the stage. Muffat engages an eclectic amalgam of geographic styles, while Rameau and Royer exemplify the French Baroque, and Handel’s Chaconne was from an Italian opera.
An interesting piece on the program is a harpsichord concerto by W.F. Bach, the son and student of J.S. Bach, in which the sophisticated Bach tradition is relaxed by the improvisatory forward-leaning expression of the next generation.
Program:
• Muffat: Concerto Grosso No.12, “Propitia Sydera” (Lucky Stars)
• Handel: Chaconne from Terpsichore
• W.F. Bach: Harpsichord Concerto in D Major
• Royer: Suite in C Minor for solo harpsichord
• Rameau: Suite of Dances from Hippolyte et Aricie
Thursday, Feb.17, 7 p.m. (Pre-concert reception at 6 p.m.)
Zipper Hall at the Colburn School, 200 South Grand Avenue, Los Angeles
Tickets: $45. For information, call (213) 622-7001, ext. 215.
Musica Angelica performs Mozart’s Zaide
Musica Angelica offers three performances of Concertmaster Martin Haselböck’s staging of Mozart’s rarely performed chamber opera Zaide featuring soprano Janai Brugger-Orman, tenors Andrew Bidlack and Jesus León , and baritone Christian Hilz.
Mozart left his lively opera unfinished. Originally commissioned as a comic opera, Zaide is the story of a young woman’s efforts to rescue her lover from pirates. Arias alternate with dialogue in an incomplete libretto and story, but the opera was finished by interweaving other Mozart works to give rise to a coherent story. This updated edition casts Zaide as a bored teenager, and Gomatz as a law student. The performance should be interesting to say the least!
Program:
• Mozart: Zaide, Singspiel in two acts, K344
Text and staged version by Brian Michaels following the original libretto by Andreas Schachtner
Saturday, Feb.19, 8 p.m.
Pasadena Presbyterian Church, 585 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena
Sunday, Feb. 20, 3 and 7 p.m.
The Broad Stage, 1310 11th Street, Santa Monica
Pre-concert lecture by Rachel Worby 30 minutes before each program.
Tickets: $55, $49, $39; seniors $47, $42, $32; students with ID $15
For information or to purchase tickets, call (310) 458-4504.
These events were selected from among those listed in Jim Eninger’s Clickable Chamber Music Newsletter, an extensive calendar of upcoming music events, large and small, happening all around Los Angeles.