Registered Charity Number 271765
SEASON 2007/08
Wednesday 17 October, 7.30pm
The English Concert
Alfredo Bernardini Director/Oboe
Nuria Rial Soprano
Fulvio Bettini Baritone
G. F. HANDEL (1685-1759)
Concerto Grosso op.3 no.2
Cantata "Ah! Crudel nel pianto mio"
Concerto Grosso op.3 no.3
interval (20 minutes)
Serenata "Apollo e Dafne"
sponsored by:
36 Wigmore Street, London W1U 2BP • www.wigmore-hall.org.uk
www.englishconcert.co.uk • season 2007/08 •
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HANDEL: CANTATAS AND CONCERTOS
Concerti Grossi op.3 nos.2-3 (HWV 313-4)
Concerto no.2 in Bb
Concerto no.3 in G
Vivace-Grave
Largo
Allegro
(Menutto) Vivace
(Gavotte)
Largo e staccato
Allegro
Adagio
Allegro
Handel’s six ‘Opus 3’ concertos were published in parts by the
mercurial London music publisher John Walsh in December
1734. The title page of the first violin part:
Concerti Grossi Con Due Violini e Violoncello di Concertino
Obligati e Due Altri Violini, Viola e Basso di Concerto Grosso
Ad Arbitiro Da G. F. Handel. Opera Terza.
N. B. Several of these Concertos were perform’d on the Marriage
of the Prince of Orange with the Princess Royal of Great Britain
in the Royal Chapel of St. James’s.
In fact, most of this statement was incorrect, if not downright
dishonest. The Italian description of the instrumentation was
copied straight from Corelli’s famous Opus 6 (a collection of
twelve concerti grossi), which during the early 18th century had
become the most popular and fashionable collection of its type
with music societies and musicians across Britain. Perhaps
Walsh retained the description of a solo ‘concertino’ group (two
violins and cello) and a ‘ripieno’ group of strings and continuo
in order to appeal to a wide audience, but in fact none of
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Handel’s six concertos included in Op.3 are structured in this
Corellian way. Instead, the music featured different
combinations of woodwind and strings, and none of them
feature concertino and ripieno groupings. Moreover, it is
inconceivable that any of these concertos were performed at the
wedding ceremony of Princess Anne and Prince William of
Orange in March 1734 (although perhaps one or two might
have been played at some stage in the peripheral celebrations).
Walsh presumably claimed a connection between the music and
the royal wedding in order to capitalize on his audience’s taste
for novelty.
The musical content was all old material assembled by Walsh
without any official authorization or involvement from the
composer (Handel did not show any active interest in the
publication of his instrumental music until the Op.4 organ
concertos in 1738). The music of the second concerto (Op.3
no.2) dates from about the middle 1710s, and it was probably
composed for the Haymarket opera house orchestra to play
during an interval between the acts of an opera. But while some
of the Op.3 concertos were integral authentic concertos for
orchestra, some others were created in a more ramshackle
fashion using pre-existing movements. The third concerto was
assembled using material from some of the ‘Chandos’ church
anthems that Handel had composed for the Earl of Carnarvon
in the late 1710s, and the last movement was arranged from a
keyboard fugue dating from the same period. However, the
dubious provenance and motivation behind the Op.3 ‘concerti
grossi’ does not alter the fact that they contain some of Handel’s
most delightful orchestral music.
Ah! crudel nel pianto mio (HWV 78)
During his extended trip to Italy between 1706 and 1710,
Handel gained intensive experience of supplying music of all
kinds for aristocratic and ecclesiastical patrons, including an
opera for Florence (Rodrigo), a serenata for Naples (Aci, Galatea
e Polifemo) and church music for Rome (most notably Dixit
Dominus). During this period at least 50 Italian cantatas, some
accompanied only by continuo and others featuring additional
instruments, were commissioned by the Marquis Ruspoli. A
wealthy patron and member of the Arcadian Academy, Ruspoli
opened his gardens on the Esquiline Hill in Rome during
summer for meetings of the poetical society, and perhaps it was
for such an occasion that the cantata Ah! crudel nel pianto mio
was written (or maybe for a similar gathering at the Palazzo
Bonelli, his main residence in the Papal city). Unlike many of
Handel’s Italian cantatas, the autograph manuscript has
survived, and probably dates from about September 1707
(although it was not mentioned in the payment account books
of the Ruspoli household until four years later).
Scored for two oboes, four part strings and continuo, Ah! crudel
nel pianto mio is a remarkable composition that shows its
composer undergoing a fertile flourishing of ideas. It
commences with a two-movement instrumental sonata, in
which a bright opening allegro is followed by a melancholic
adagio that superbly sets up the pathetic opening aria. An
unnamed male lover laments the cruelty of the woman he
steadfastly loves in a slow plaint full of harmonic and melodic
richness (Handel was presumably so pleased with this music
that he re-used it to fine effect for the sorceress Armida in
Rinaldo a few years later). In a simple recitative, his mood shifts
to the optimistic sentiment that she will eventually requite his
love and reward his faithfulness, and his emotional swings are
sympathetically supported by the strong impact of changing
dynamics in the lyrical aria ‘Di quel bel che il ciel ti diede’. In
the theatrical accompanied recitative ‘Balena il cielo’, the lover
compares unrequited love and his hope for a better future to
rays of sunshine that break through the clouds after a violent
storm, and his certainty of a happy outcome is reinforced by the
concluding triple-time aria ‘Per trofei di mia costanza’ (in which
the oboes, unheard since the instrumental introduction, return
to prominence).
Aria
Ah! crudel, nel pianto mio,
ch’è di fè limpido rio,
specchia un dì i tuoi vaghi rai.
Nel mirar tante mie doglie,
cangerai forse allor voglie,
e d’amar non sdegnerai.
Oh cruel woman, one day you must see
your beautiful eyes reflected in my tears,
which form a river of faithfulness.
Seeing all of my sorrow
will perhaps change you
so that you no longer reject my love.
Semplice recitativo
Non sdegnerai d’amar chi t’ama
tanto, e t’ama tanto,
perché Amor risiede nel tuo volto,
ove pose il mio destino,
per cui soffro mille sospiri e pene;
ma pene, ma sospiri che si fan
gloria del costante core,
scopo alla tua beltà, segno al rigore.
You won’t disdain to love him who loves
you, and he loves you
because Love is in your eyes and it was
my destiny to see them. That is why
I suffer a thousand sighs and sorrows;
but the sighs and sorrows show the
glory of a constant heart,
the mark of your beauty, the sign of your strength.
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Apollo e Dafne (HWV 122)
Aria
Di quel bel ch’il ciel ti diede
non men vaga è la mia fede,
che più forte ognor diviene.
Tu m’impiaghi, io fido t’amo,
e del tuo rigor io chiamo
pregio eguale la mia spene.
The beauty which heaven bestowed on you
is no less than my faithfulness,
which grows stronger by the hour.
You wound me, I faithfully love you,
and I see my hope as a virtue
equal to your strength.
Accompagnato recitativo
Balena il cielo, e il turbine che passa sovra
il gravido solco l’ancor tenera messe e scuote e atterra.
ma poi, sereno e vago, squarcia le nubi il sole,
e torna il giorno tutto di raggi adorno;
onde il mesto custode grazie rende alle stelle,
e lieto mira il campo verde e salvo il gregge amato.
Lightning in the skies and whirlwinds blowing over fertile land
shake and beat the vulnerable harvest.
But then the sun breaks through the clouds, bright and beautiful,
and light returns. The afflicted shepherd thanks heaven
and, with relief, his eyes gaze across the green meadow
and his beloved flock which is safe and well.
Così, del tuo spietato genio che mi tormenta
vedrò cangiar il minaccioso aspetto; e allor
doppio diletto avrò dal vinto tuo fiero rigore
e dal mio tanto mal gradito amore.
Similarly, I will see your merciless soul which torments me
change for the better. And then I will be doubly pleased,
for my victory over your fierce strength
and for my previously unrequited love.
Aria
Per trofei di mia costanza
mi fa cenno la speranza
ch’io rimiri i tuoi rigori.
E mi dice: soffri, o cor!
che poi felice saran gioia i tuoi dolori.
Trophies of my constancy:
that is what hope tells me
to call your rigour.
And it also tells me: suffer, o heart!
For your sorrows will happily change to joy.
Interval (20 minutes)
Please check your mobile phone is switched off, especially if you
used it during the interval.
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Handel’s brilliant youthful period working in Italy culminated at
Venice in early 1710 with Agrippina, his first great operatic
triumph. It seems that before leaving Venice he commenced work
on the dramatic cantata Apollo e Dafne, but by June 1710 the
twenty-five year old composer had arrived in Hanover, where he
was promptly appointed Kapellmeister. The mixture of papertypes in the autograph manuscript score reveal that Handel took
his unfinished cantata with him to Hanover, where he revised and
completed it, probably with some assistance from local copyists.
The title ‘Apollo e Dafne’ is apocryphal, and the autograph
manuscript simply commences with Apollo’s declamation ‘La
terra è liberata’ (there is no evidence in the musical sources as
they now appear that any sinfonia or overture was intended).
Apollo has defeated Python – a monster that has been ravaging
Greece – and arrogantly declares his power to be greater than
Cupid’s. This thoughtless boast soon returns to haunt him when
he hears the nymph Dafne sing. Enchanted by her voice and
beauty (‘Felicissima quest’alma’), Apollo tries to seduce the
nymph, but she is a loyal follower of his sister Diana (referred to
in the libretto as Cynthia) and rejects his advances. The amorous
sun god tries every trick in the book to placate the nymph and
persuade her to grant him her favours, but he becomes frustrated
when none of these work. He tries to take her by force, and runs
after her (‘Mi piante correte’, later adapted for ‘Venti turbini’ in
Rinaldo) but he is shocked when Dafne transforms herself into a
laurel tree in order to escape. Genuinely saddened, Apollo
tenderly sings that from henceforth all heroes shall wear a crown
of laurels in Dafne’s honour (‘Cara pianta’, later adapted for the
chorus ‘Dall’orror di notte cieca’ towards the end of Alcina,
when the transformation music instead portrays the sorceress's
petrified victims being restored back to life).
Although the identity of the cantata’s librettist is unknown, the
story was easily available from Ovid’s Metamorphoses, the same
source as the story of Acis and Galatea (which Handel had set
to music for Naples in 1708, and would re-set for the Earl of
Carnarvon in 1718). Handel’s music captures the tension and
varying moods of the conflict between the two characters. In
particular, the music for Apollo progresses from a witty
caricature of a thoughtless boaster to a sympathetic personality
capable of sincere tenderness, with both charming and more
sinister aspects of his character emerging in between. Dafne’s
first music immediately establishes her remarkable beauty and
femininity, and her subsequent responses to Apollo show that
she is also a feisty woman full of determination, fidelity to her
goddess Diana, and courage.
Handel’s first biographer John Mainwaring made a passing
reference to the story of Apollo and Dafne when describing
Handel’s love affair in Venice with the soprano Vittoria and the
success of Agrippina:
This opera drew over all the best singers from the other [opera]
houses. Among the foremost of these was the famous Vittoria,
who a little before Handel’s removal to Venice had obtained
permission of the grand Duke to sing in one of the houses there. At
Agrippina her inclinations gave new lustre to her talents. Handel
seemed almost as great and majestic as Apollo, and it was far
from the lady’s intention to be so cruel and obstinate as Daphne.
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Apollo
La terra è liberata,
la Grecia è vendicata,
Apollo ha vinto!
Dopo tanti terrori e tante stragi
che desolaro e spopolaro i regni,
giace Piton, per la mia mano estinto.
Apollo ha trionfato,
Apollo ha vinto!
The earth is liberated,
Greece is revenged,
Apollo has conquered!
After the terrors and carnage
that have desolated and depopulated kingdoms,
The Python lies dead, killed by my hand.
Apollo has triumphed,
Apollo has conquered!
Pende il ben dell’universo
da quest’arco salutar.
Di mie lodi il suol rimbombe
ed appresti l’ecatombe
al mio braccio tutelar.
The well-being of the universe depends
on this bow which has saved it.
Let the world now resound with my praises,
and prepare sacrifices
to my protecting arm.
Ch’il superbetto Amore
delle saette mie ceda alla forza;
ch’omai più non si vanti
della punta fatal d’aurato strale;
un sol Piton più vale
che mille accesi e saettati amanti.
Let proud little Cupid
yield to the force of my arrows;
let him boast no longer
of his fatal golden darts;
One Python alone is worth more
than a thousand inflamed arrow-struck lovers.
Spezza l’arco e getta l’armi,
dio dell’ozio e del piacer.
Come mai puoi tu piagarmi,
nume ignudo e cieco arcier?
Break your bow and throw away your arrows
God of leisure and pleasure.
How can you ever hurt me,
naked god and blind archer?
[enter Dafne]
Dafne
Felicissima quest’alma
ch’ama sol la libertà.
Non v’è pace, non v’è calma
per chi sciolto il cor non ha.
Apollo
Che voce! che beltà!
Questo suon, questa vista il cor trapassa.
Ninfa!
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Blissful is this soul
which loves only liberty.
There is no peace, no calm
for one whose heart is not free.
What a voice! What beauty!
This sound, this sight pierces my heart.
Nymph!
Dafne
Che veggo? Ahi, lassa;
e chi sarà costui che mi sorprese?
What do I see? Alas,
who is he who surprises me?
Apollo
Io son un dio ch’il tuo bel volto accese.
I am a god, aroused by your lovely face.
Dafne
Non conosco altri dei fra queste selve
che la sola Diana;
non t’accostar, divinità profana.
I know of no other gods in these woods
than Diana alone;
do not come near me, profane divinity.
Apollo
Di Cinzia io son fratel: s’ami la suora,
abbi, o bella, pietà di chi t’adora.
I am Cynthia's brother; if you love his sister,
oh fair one, then take pity on him who adores you.
Dafne
Ardi, ardori, e preghi invano,
solo a Cinzia io son fedel.
Alle fiamme del germano
Cinzia vuol ch’io sia crudel.
You desire, adore and plead in vain;
I am faithful to Cynthia alone.
She would wish me to be cruel
towards her brother’s passion.
Apollo
Che crudel!
How cruel!
Dafne
Ch’importuno!
How importunate!
Apollo
Cerco il fin de’ miei mali.
I shall seek an end to my sufferings.
Dafne
Ed io lo scampo.
And I shall escape it.
Apollo
Io mi struggo d’amor.
I am consumed with love.
Dafne
Io d’ira avvampo.
I am aflame with fury.
www.englishconcert.co.uk • season 2007/08 •
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Duet
Apollo, Dafne
Una guerra ho dentro il seno
che soffrir più non si può.
Apollo
Ardo, gelo; s’al rigor non metti freno,
Dafne
Temo e peno; s’all’ardor non metti freno,
Apollo, Dafne
pace aver mai non potrò.
Apollo
Placati al fin, o cara,
la beltà che m’infiamma
sempre non fiorirà, ciò che natura
di più vago formò e non dura.
Come rosa in su la spina
presto viene e presto va;
tal con fuga repentina
passa il fior della beltà.
Dafne
Ah, ch’un dio non dovrebbe
altro amore seguir ch’oggetti eterni;
perirà, finirà caduca polve
che grata a te mi rende,
ma non già la virtù che mi defende.
Come in ciel benigna stella
di Nettun placa il furor;
tal in alma onesta e bella
la ragion frena l’amor.
Apollo
Odi la mia ragion:
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A war rages in my heart
that can no longer be borne.
I burn, I freeze; if you do not curb your severity,
I fear and am in anguish; if you do not curb your passion,
I shall never be able to find peace.
Be calm now, dearest,
the beauty that inflames me
will not flower for ever; the greatest loveliness
that nature created passes, and does not last.
Just as the rose on its stem
quickly comes and quickly goes,
so with sudden speed
the flower of beauty passes.
Ah, a god should love nothing
but eternal objects;
the temporal dust which makes me
pleasing to you will perish and disappear,
but not so the virtue that defends me
As a benign star in the heavens
placates Neptune’s fury;
so in an honest and lovely soul
reason restrains love.
Dafne
Sorda son io.
I am deaf.
Apollo
Orso e tigre tu sei!
You are a bear and a tigress!
Dafne
Tu non sei dio.
You are no god.
Apollo
Cedi all’amor, o proverai la forza.
Yield to love, or you will feel my force.
Dafne
Nel sangue mio questa tua fiamma ammorza.
Your flame will be extinguished in my blood.
Duet
Apollo
Deh, lascia addolcire
quell’aspro rigor.
Pray, let this unbending severity
be softened.
Dafne
Più tosto morire
che perder l’onor.
Better to die
than to lose my honour.
Apollo
Deh, cessino l’ire,
o dolce mio cor!
Pray, cease your ire,
my sweetness of my heart!
Dafne
Più tosto morire
che perder l’onor.
Better to die
than to lose my honour.
Apollo
Sempre t’adorerò.
Always I shall adore you.
Dafne
Sempre t’aborrirò.
Always I shall abhor you.
Hear my reason:
• season 2007/08 • www.englishconcert.co.uk
www.englishconcert.co.uk • season 2007/08 •
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Apollo
Tu non mi fuggirai.
You will not escape me.
Dafne
Sì che ti fuggirò.
Yes, I will escape you.
Apollo
Ti seguirò, correrò,
volerò sui passi tuoi;
più veloce del sole esser non puoi.
I shall follow you, run after you,
I will fly in your footsteps;
you cannot run faster than the sun.
Mi piante correte,
mie braccia stringete
l’ingrata beltà.
La tocco, la cingo,
la prendo, la stringo …
ma qual novità?
Che vidi, che mirai?
Cieli! Destino, che sarà mai?
Dafne, dove sei tu, che non ti trovo?
Qual miracolo nuovo
ti rapisce, ti cangia e ti nasconde?
Che non t’offenda mai del verno il gelo,
né il folgore dal cielo
tocchi la sacra e gloriosa fronde.
Cara pianta, co’ miei pianti
il tuo verde irrigherò.
De’ tuoi rami trionfanti
sommi eroi coronerò.
Se non posso averti in seno,
Dafne almeno
sovra il crin ti porterò.
My feet run,
my arms seize
the ungrateful beauty.
I touch her, I clasp her,
I take her, I seize her...
but what marvel is this?
What have I seen, what have I witnessed?
Heavens! Destiny, whatever will happen?
Daphne, where are you, for I cannot find you?
What new miracle
has stolen, changed and hidden you?
May the winter frosts never harm you,
nor lightning from heaven
touch your sacred and glorious foliage.
Dearest plant, with my tears
I shall water your green leaves.
with your triumphal branches
I shall crown the greatest heroes.
If I cannot have you on my breast,
Daphne, at least
I shall wear you on my brow.
FORTHCOMING LONDON CONCERTS
Monday 5 November 2007, 1.00pm
Banqueting House Whitehall
Friday 9 November, 7.45pm
Royal Naval College Greenwich
Matthew Halls
James Bowman
Director/Harpsichord
Countertenor
HANDEL
HANDEL
Concerto Grosso op.6 no.4
Italian arias:
“Dove sei” from Rodelinda
“Cara sposa” from Rinaldo
“Ombra mai fu” from Xerxes
HANDEL
HANDEL
Trio Sonata op.5 no.4
English arias:
“Yet can I hear that dulcet lay” from The
Choice of Hercules
“Father of heav’n” from Judas Maccabeus
“O sacred oracles of truth” from Belshazzar
Thursday 29 November 2007, 7.30pm
Cadogan Hall
Rinaldo Alessandrini Director/Harpsichord
Sara Mingardo
Contralto
DALL’ABACO
SCARLATTI
CORELLI
MACITTI
VIVALDI
GEMINIANI
Sonata a 4 op.2 no.1
“Infirmata vulnerata”
Concerto Grosso op.6 no.4
Concerto a 6 op.7 no.2
“Cessate omai cessate”
Concerto Grosso op.3 no.3
Cadogan Hall box office 020 7730 4500
www.cadoganhall.com
Banqueting House Whitehall 020 3166 6153
www.hrp.org.uk
Royal Naval College Greenwich 020 8463 0100
www.blackheathhalls.com
Programme notes © David Vickers 2007
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www.englishconcert.co.uk • season 2007/08 •
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ALFREDO BERNARDINI
Double bass
Peter McCarthy
Flute
Lisa Beznosiuk
Oboe
Alfredo Bernardini (director)
Hannah McLaughlin
Violin 1
Rodolfo Richter (leader)
Graham Cracknell
Thérèse Timoney
Abigail Brown
Violin 2
Walter Reiter
Claire Duff
Pauline Smith
Theorbo
William Carter
Harpsichord
Matthew Halls
Harpsichord provided by Claire Hammett
Viola
Alfonso Leal del Ojo
Pablo de Pedro Cano
Cello
Alison McGillivray
Timothy Kraemer
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Bassoon
Alberto Grazzi
• season 2007/08 • www.englishconcert.co.uk
Alfredo Bernardini
Born in Rome in 1961,
Alfredo Bernardini moved to
The Netherlands in 1981 in
order to specialize in baroque
oboe and early music, studying
with, among others, Bruce
Haynes and Ku Ebbinge, and
receiving his soloist diploma
from the Royal Conservatory
of The Hague in 1987.
in international journals. Since 1992 he has taught baroque
oboe at the Conservatory of Amsterdam, and from 2002 to
2005 he taught at the Escola Superior de Musica de Cataluña
in Barcelona.
This is Alfredo Bernardini’s debut as director with The English
Concert.
Since then he has performed all over Europe, in Russia, the
USA, Japan, China, Korea, Malaysia, Egypt, Israel, South
America and Australia as a member of many baroque
ensembles, including Hesperion XX, Le Concert des Nations,
La Petite Bande, The Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra, Das
Freiburger Barockorchester, The English Concert, Bach
Collegium Japan and the Balthasar Neumann Ensemble.
In 1989 he founded the ensemble ZEFIRO with the oboist
Paolo Grazzi and his brother, the bassoonist Alberto. ZEFIRO
has toured widely since, and in 1999 was invited by Belgian
Television to make a documentary film about Antonio Vivaldi.
As an oboist Bernardini has taken part in some 100 recordings,
including a CD of Vivaldi oboe concertos that received the
Cannes classical Award 1995. As a director he has worked with
orchestras in Italy, France, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Holland,
Poland and Australia, and with the European Union Baroque
Orchestra. In addition, his scholarly research on the history of
woodwind instruments has resulted in several articles published
www.englishconcert.co.uk • season 2007/08 •
13
NURIA RIAL
Nuria Rial
Nurial Rial’s musical training
began in her native Catalunya
and continued in Basel with
Prof. Kurt Widmer, where she
won the “Solistendiplom-gesang”
of the Musikhochschule der
Stadt Basel. In September 2003
she won the “Preis der Helvetia
Patria Jeunesse Stiftung” from
the “Pro Europa - European
Foundation for Culture”.
She has worked with orchestras and ensembles including Il
Giardino Armonico, Concerto Köln, Simphonieorchester Basel,
Zürcher Kammerorchester, El Concierto Español, Les Cornets
Noirs, Ricercar Consort, Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin,
L’Arpeggiata, Al Ayre Espagnol, Ensemble La Fenice and La
Petite Bande.
Her opera performances include appearances at Innsbruck,
Théâtre de la Monnaie in Brussels, Theater unter den Linden in
Berlin, Théâtre des Champs Elysées in Paris, Theater Basel in
Switzerland and Wiener Konzerthaus in Vienna.
Her appearances at many festivals in Europe and Latin America
include concerts with René Jacobs, Thomas Hengelbrock,
Attilio Cremonesi, Giovanni Antonini, Skip Sempé, Howard
Griffiths, Salvador Mas, Antoni Ros-Marbà, Jose Miguel
Moreno, Jan Schultz , Pierre Cao, and Paul Goodwin.
FULVIO BETTINI
CDs - Claros y frescos rios for Glossa with the ensemble
Orphénica Lyra conducted by the guitarist Jose Miguel Moreno,
and a programme of Bach and Handel with the Ricercar
Consort for Mirare, conducted by Philippe Pierlot. She has also
recorded for Harmonia Mundi France and Alpha, and
collaborated with Radio Nacional de España, Catalunya
Musica, Bayerische Rundfunk, Schweizer Radio DRS2, ORF1
and RAI.
Future engagements include Pamina in The Magic Flute at the
Teatro Carlo Felice in Genova and Opéra National de
Montpellier; Zerlina in Don Giovanni with Sigiswald Kuijken;
Jupiter and Semele by Literes with Al Ayre Espanol; Telemann’s
Cantatas in Magdeburg; Handel’s Riccardo I with
Kammerorchester Basel; and several concert programmes with
Arpeggiata.
Nuria Rial makes her debut with The English Concert tonight.
Fulvio Bettini began his musical
career as a chorister, later
studying at the Pontificio
Istituto di Musica Sacra of
Milan, and at the Conservatorio
of Milan under the guidance of
Margareth Hayward.
Fulvio Bettini works with
many internationally renowned
Baroque ensembles, including Il Giardino Armonico, Les
Concerts de les Nations, La Capella Reial de Catalunya, La
Petite Bande, Accademia Bizantina and Zefiro. He has appeared
at the Salzburg Pfingsten Festival, Styriarte Festival,
Schwetzingen Festival, Handel Festival Halle, Lucerne Festival,
Ravenna Festival, and at the Teatro Real in Madrid, Teatro
Liceu in Barcelona, Teatro de la Zarzuela in Madrid, Opéra
National de Bordeaux, Teatro Donizetti in Bergamo, and
Piccolo Teatro in Milano.
Fulvio Bettini
In Monteverdi’s Orfeo, Fulvio Bettini has performed the roles of
both Orfeo and Apollo with Il Giardino Armonico under
Giovanni Antonini, and with Les Concerts de les Nations under
Jordi Savall. He has sung the role of Pallante in Handel’s
Agrippina and Aquilio in Vivaldi’s Farnace under Jordi Savall in
Madrid and Bordeaux. He has also toured France, Netherlands,
and Portugal in Sarro’s opera buffa La furba e lo sciocco with La
Petite Bande conducted by Sigiswald Kuijken.
Forthcoming engagements include a new production of La lira
d’Orfeo by Draghi, Orfeo nell’inferno by Campra, and a concert
tour with Akamus.
Among his several recordings are Draghi’s oratorio La vita nella
morte under Christophe Coin (Astrée/Auvidis), Vivaldi’s Farnace
conducted by Jordi Savall (Alia Vox), and Galuppi’s Il mondo
alla roversa conducted by Diego Fasolis (Chandos).
Fulvio Bettini makes his debut with The English Concert
tonight.
His wide repertoire ranges from the Renaissance to
contemporary music, with special emphasis on Baroque
composers. He has sung operatic roles by Monteverdi, Handel,
Carissimi, Telemann, Porpora, Draghi, Galuppi, and Conti,
taking part in the première of Conti’s oratorio Il martirio di San
Sebastiano at the Salzburg Festival with Il Giardino Armonico.
He has also performed Bach Cantatas and had notable successes
with Mendelssohn’s Walpurgisnacht, Berlioz’s Lelio, Ravel’s Don
Quichotte et and the first Italian performance of Satyagraha by
Philip Glass.
She has featured in a number of recordings, including two solo
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• season 2007/08 • www.englishconcert.co.uk
www.englishconcert.co.uk • season 2007/08 •
15
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS & THANKS
Among the most recorded of chamber orchestras, it has made
more than 100 recordings for Deutsche Grammophon Archiv
Produktion, including many award winners, and a series of
critically acclaimed CDs for Harmonia Mundi with violinist
Andrew Manze, who succeeded Trevor Pinnock as Artistic
Director in 2003.
The English Concert is among the finest
chamber orchestras in the world, with an
outstanding reputation for performances of
baroque and classical music in the concert hall
and on CD.
In addition to extensive touring, it presents a series of concerts in
London each season, at Wigmore Hall and Cadogan Hall,
appearing also at London festivals, including the BBC Proms, the
Spitafields Festival and the Lufthansa Festival of Baroque Music.
In the UK it visits the major summer festivals and has developed
a close relationship with St George’s Bristol.
Internationally The English Concert visits four continents. Since
2005 it has toured the United States, Australia, Korea and
Malaysia, in addition to ten European countries, and since its
foundation by Trevor Pinnock in 1973 has appeared at the world’s
most prestigious concert venues, including the Concertgebouw,
Amsterdam, the Musikverein, Vienna, the Théâtre des Champs
Elysées in Paris, the Philharmonie, Berlin, the Carnegie Hall, New
York, and the Grosse Festspielhaus in Salzburg.
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• season 2007/08 • www.englishconcert.co.uk
Highlights of recent seasons include Heinrich Biber’s
rediscovered Missa Christi Resurgentis, Mozart’s re-orchestration
of Handel’s Alexander’s Feast for the BBC Proms, Jonathan
Dove’s Köthener Mass for the Spitalfields Festival, and a
triumphant 13-city US tour in autumn 2006 with Andrew
Manze performing Mozart violin concertos. Their latest
recording, a recital of Handel scenes and arias by Mark
Padmore, has been widely praised.
In September 2007 Harry Bicket became the third artistic
director in the orchestra’s history. Harry Bicket is renowned
worldwide for his performances of Baroque opera with many of
the greatest singers of the age, and forthcoming TEC seasons
will include collaborations with Sara Mingardo, Jonathan
Lemalu, David Daniels, Anna-Caterina Antonacci, Mark
Padmore and others.
The orchestra also collaborates with leading guest directors, and
in 2007-08 will appear in London and abroad with Rinaldo
Alessandrini, Fabio Biondi, Laurence Cummings, Kenneth
Weiss and Matthew Halls.
The English Concert is grateful for the continuing support of Patrons, Friends, Sponsors and Charitable Trusts
Platinum Patrons
Mr & Mrs H Paget
Mr C Artley
Mr E Davey
Mr N & Mrs E Carrington
Mr D Rendell & Ms A Smith
Mrs L Attwood
Mrs E Davis
Mrs C Erskine
Dr M A Baird
Mr R A Davis
Dr R J A Golding
Mr J D Bean
Mr T A Davis
Mr E Beinhocker
Mr & Mrs M Dolan
Ms P Benians
Mr M Eaton
Mr D Bennett
Prof E Ebsworth
G R Gomberg & P A Bezant
Mrs A Eddolls
Prof H J B Birks
Dr M Elian
Mrs E Blumenau
Dr J Ellis
Mr & Mrs W G Blyth
Mr I Fleming
Sir Alan & Lady Bowness
Mr & Mrs C E E Francis
Mrs C Broomfield
Ms N Franglen
Mr M Burns
Sir Michael Franklin
Miss P C A Butterworth
Mrs M B Garth
S Pricket & J Bryer
Mr & Mrs A & J Gill
Ms S Cadman
Mr J Gittens
Mr R Calver
Rev S Godfrey
Mr T Campbell-Davies
Mr C J Gold
Mr & Mrs G T B Camsey
Prof P and Mrs T Gordon
Mr G Chaldezos
Prof R Grahame
Dr J Child
Miss J A Gregory
Mr & Mrs R Clare
Miss E Grimsey
Mrs J M Clegg
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Mrs C Clemo
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Mr S Weil
Mr C & Mrs J Weston
Bronze Patrons
Mr G Barnett
Miss B A Battersby
Miss J Bernard
Mr & Mrs R J Buhr
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Mrs A de Lotbinière
Gold Patrons
Miss M Garnham
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Mr A Gemes
Mr R Binks
Mr M Godbee
Mr R Broadhurst
Mrs F Good
Mr & Mrs A Brooke
Mr J Herberg
Mr G A Lythe
Mr & Mrs M Lewisohn
The Hon Michael & Mrs C McLaren
Mr B A Mace
G Modiano Ltd
Mr C H McCall QC
His Hon Judge M & Mrs N
Mrs J Ridley
Oppenheimer
Mr R Teed
Mr B & Mrs H Smouha
Mr & Mrs A Williams
Mr J Smouha QC and Mrs L Smouha
Mr S Wordsworth
Mr & Mrs S Taylor
Mr A Twigger
Friends
Baroness Warnock
Mr J S Abbott
Mrs F Cobb
Mr R Hayman
Mr N Abraham
Mr P Collett
Dr R C Hider
Silver Patrons
Mrs J Allison
Ms J Constantinis
Mr P R Hildebrand
Mrs B Abensur
Miss R Andrew
Dr D Cowan
Mrs C Hobbs
Mr I Farnsworth
Ms N Armitage
Mrs J Darling
Dr & Mrs P Honey
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17
SUPPORT THE ENGLISH CONCERT
Ms J Horrocks
Mrs L Read
Mrs A M Walker
Board of Trustees
All contributions, large and small, make a real
Ms C Howell
Mrs J M Reed
Miss K Warnock
Mr N Carrington (Chairman)
Mr & Mrs D Hutchinson
Mr W Reid
Mr R J Wildash
difference at The English Concert, enabling the
Mr R Binks
Mrs J Ingamells
Mr W & Mrs L Rickett
Mr V Morrison & Ms M Willes
Dr R J A Golding
orchestra to achieve its goals of excellent music
Ms E Jack
Mr & Mrs D Riddle
Mrs L Wilson
Mr S Jennings
making and to provide much needed revenue for
Dr A Kilby
Mr O Ridgway
Mr P Windeatt
Mrs Y Landau
Prof A King
Mr B D Roden
Miss E Yates
the expansion of its creative projects.
Mrs N Oppenheimer
Mrs U Kogan
Mrs S C Rogers
Mr & Mrs T Yates-Watson
Mr J Reeve
Mr E Laws
Mr R A Roots
Mr & Mrs E Ledgerwood
Mr T Rossiter
Mrs M MacGregor
Mr & Mrs R Rothbarth
Mr & Mrs J Main
Mr F Ryan
Mr K Martin-Leake
P Morris & L Samworth
Mrs J Mathers
Ms S Schouten
Mr B McCudden
Mr B Self
Mrs F Mellor
Mrs H J Sharp
Ms Y Millar
Mr T W Sharp
Mr J Moore
Mr T J Sharpe
Mr & Mrs Q Morgan-Edwards
Mr L Shaw
Prof P & Dr J Mortimore
Mrs P J Shaw
The English Concert gratefully
acknowledges the support of
Balli Group plc
Bircham Dyson Bell
Haven Health Properties Ltd
Ms K Shimoda
BECOME A FRIEND OF THE ENGLISH CONCERT
Mr J Smouha QC
Mr S Weil
• Advance booking and 20% discount on our London concerts
Founder
• Discounts on CDs and DVDs
Trevor Pinnock CBE
• Regular Special Offers
• Regular e-newsletters
Artistic Director
Rawlinson & Hunter
Harry Bicket
Trusts
General Manager
Miss M C Steed
Arimathea Charitable Trust
Felix Warnock
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Orchestra Manager
I would like to become a Friend of The English Concert
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I would like further information on the Patrons of
The English Concert
Mr & Mrs R Osmond
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Marsh Christian Trust
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Mercers’ Company
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Garfield Weston Foundation
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Design
Mr T Powell
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• season 2007/08 • www.englishconcert.co.uk
Public Relations
£25
Joint Annual Subscription
£40
Half-price for the under 25s
BECOME A PATRON OF THE ENGLISH CONCERT
Odgers Ray & Berndtson
Mr J Neil-Smith
18
Sponsors for 2007-08
Individual Annual Subscription
• A credit in our London concert programmes
If you would like further details of Friends membership and the
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way out tonight or complete the form below. Alternatively you can
telephone 020 7911 0905 or visit our website
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www.englishconcert.co.uk
www.englishconcert.co.uk • season 2007/08 •
19
Wigmore Hall, 36 Wigmore Street, London, W1U 2BP
Director: John Gilhooly
The Wigmore Hall Trust. Registered Charity No. 1024838.
www.wigmore-hall.org.uk
Facilities for Disabled People
Please contact House Management for full details.
Please check that your mobile phone is switched off, especially
if you used it during the interval. Please stifle coughing as
much as possible and ensure that watch alarms and any other
electronic devices which may become audible are switched off.
Wigmore Hall is a no-smoking venue. No recording or
photographic equipment may be taken into the auditorium, nor
used in any other part of the Hall without the prior written
permission of the Hall Management. Wigmore Hall is equipped
with a ‘Loop’ to help hearing aid users receive clear sound without
background noise. Patrons can use the facility by switching their
hearing aids over to ‘T’. In accordance with the requirements of
City of Westminster, persons shall not be permitted to stand or sit
in any of the gangways intersecting the seating, or to sit in any of
the other gangways. If standing is permitted in the gangways at the
sides and rear of the seating, it shall be limited to the numbers
indicated in the notices exhibited in those positions.
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• season 2007/08 • www.englishconcert.co.uk