• Throughout the centuries, composers have been fascinated by the deep-rooted relationship between Music & Nature. Music can imitate the sounds of nature, and the voices of nature have played a prominent role in music that we love, from madrigals to Mahler. Telemann’s music about tree frogs and crickets leads us to Geminiani’s fascinating depiction of an enchanted forest. And perhaps the most dramatic portrayal of all is Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, which will feature four virtuoso violinists taking on the colors and climates of Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter.

• One of the most popular musical works during the Baroque era was Pergolesi’s plaintive Stabat Mater. It was so much in vogue during the middle of the 18th century that other composers and their publishers would try to claim Pergolesi’s authorship of other spurious works. Performances of the Stabat Mater could be heard throughout Europe, even in France which maintained a superciliousness against Italian music. ABS will present the premiere of an edition found within the library of the Concert de Lyon, one of two trend-making concert organizations in France at that time. Also found within that library is Handel’s Utrecht Te Deum & Jubilate, triumphant music to celebrate the signing of the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713, eventually ending the War of the Spanish Succession.

• In the 18th century, both Italy and France had their own unique ways of composing and performing music. It became a widely held opinion that the unification of these two styles would amount to no less than the perfection of music. François Couperin’s two musical apotheoses—intended to deify the leading exponents of each of these opposing styles—frame a program that draws attention to this “perfection” through the music of composers from both sides of what was a passionate discourse. 

• The 2019 Festival & Academy brings the 10th annual collaboration of the Academy Orchestra & Soloists with the American Bach Choir in Johann Sebastian Bach’s consummate masterwork, the Mass in B Minor. Under the meticulous and insightful direction of Jeffrey Thomas, these performances bring eye-opening revelations of Bach’s score that draws upon 35 years of his compositions. 

• For centuries, Bach’s timeless music has influenced and enlightened listeners and performers alike. Utilizing it as a source of harmonic and melodic content, musicians from all genres have adapted and drawn inspiration from Bach’s artistry. “Bach to Bluegrass & Beyond” explores themes from the Brandenburg Concertos, cantatas, and more in folk and jazz idioms. Be prepared to tap your toes and experience Bach in a new way. 

• “Bach Re-imagined” explores the sonorities of instruments outside the realm of the Baroque, drawing upon the richness of Bach transcriptions and the new repertoire they provide for performers.

• Terpsicore is the only opera prologue composed by Handel. It was premiered in 1734 as the opening to Il Pastor Fido, an opera that contained some of the best music from at least a half dozen previous operas and serenatas. In praise of Apollo, Erato (the muse of music) and Terpsicore (the muse of dance), its performance featured two of Handel’s greatest singers (castrato Giovanni Carestini and soprano Anna Maria Strada) and the celebrated Marie Sallé. Arias, duets, choruses, and dance music permeate this wonderful opéra-ballet. While the title of Lotti’s captivating “Mass for Three Choirs” can be misleading, it is a work composed for more than 20 independent vocal and instrumental parts, often organized in as many as five different and separated groups, drawing up the Venetian tradition of poly-choral, or cori spezzati, works from the time of the great composers at San Marco. Academy participants are featured in both of these performances.

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• Goût, or “taste,” was a matter of great social, and sometimes political, import in 18th-century France. A preference for the quintessentially French music of Couperin, for example, marked one as a supporter of Bourbon King Louis XV, whereas the proponents of Italian opera (which was barred from the stage of the Paris Opéra for almost a century) were often loyal to the rival House of Orléans. A number of this year’s Festival events will focus on the ways that the factions sometimes met in the middle: the goûts-réunis (“blended taste”) and the performance of Italian music in France. Our colloquium, presented by musicologist Beverly Wilcox and performer/scholar Debra Nagy, will address three facets of those syntheses.

• The Concert de Lyon, which amused and edified the citizens of Lyon from 1713 to 1773, was the first successful structure for large-scale concerts of the modern era. Times change, but actions of the Concert’s guiding spirits can enlighten decisions being made today.

• Despite infamous pamphlet wars degrading Italian music and style, Italian music and musicians were welcomed with open arms in the homes of cognoscenti and on Paris’s influential concert stages. This talk explores the fascinating dichotomy between anti-Italian propaganda and the tremendous popularity of Italian works including Corelli sonatas and Vivaldi’s Four Seasons in 17th- and 18th-century France.

• One would think that Italian music played in Paris concerts came from Italy. Mais non! Surprising new discoveries suggest that much of the Italian music heard at 18th-century Paris concerts was imported by the circle of divas and castrati surrounding Handel and other Italian-opera impresarios in London.

• ABS Academy musicians perform chamber works from the Baroque.

• ABS Academy musicians perform arias and duets with instrumental ensembles from the great cantatas of Bach.

• Informal performances by ABS Academy participants borrow from an “open mic” concept that provides a forum for musicians and observers alike to enjoy a relaxing and unpredictable evening that is sure to please. The Conservatory’s Café Crème will be open to provide hot and cold beverages that can be enjoyed in the Conservatory’s Salon concert space.

• Celebrating the culture, dance, landscape, and music of Spain and the musicians who were inspired by that beautiful country, the 17th Annual ABS Gala Auction, Concert, and Dinner begins with an exclusive concert featuring soprano Hélène Brunet, hailed by the critics as a “singer of tremendous quality” with “a voice of perfect beauty” and “sincere expression.” Hors d'oeuvres and a silent auction—featuring travel, wine, art, concert tickets, and our much sought-after "ABS Exclusives"—are followed by a delicious dinner and live auction that will raise important funds to support American Bach Soloists.

• Our December concerts begin with three performances of Handel’s treasured masterwork, Messiah, in San Francisco’s resounding Grace Cathedral. Jeffrey Thomas will conduct the ABS period-instrument orchestra, the acclaimed American Bach Choir, and an outstanding quartet of soloists.

• “What stood out above all, in this annual rite that drew a huge crowd, was the sense of being addressed directly, personally, confidingly. Conductor Jeffrey Thomas brought it all together, melding his ABS forces with precision and intuitive responsiveness to Handel’s capacious 1742 masterwork.” Steven Winn, SFCV 

• At the end of last season’s enormously successful New Year’s Eve concert, ABS music director Jeffrey Thomas announced that we’d be back at the end of 2019 for a reprise of the event. It turned out to be one of the hottest tickets in town, so make your reservations early for a delightful program of arias and instrumental music from opera and concert. This early night on the town in San Francisco’s beautiful Herbst Theatre—a cornerstone and jewel among the city’s most prestigious venues—will joyfully ring in the New Year in elegant style. Bring your friends and celebrate a New Year full of wonderful music!

• Ancient Greek mythology tells us that Orpheus, the legendary musician and poet whose music and singing could charm the birds, fish, and wild beasts, is said to have moved mountains, silenced rivers, and caused trees to bend so they could hear his playing upon the lyre. Named after Orpheus, these concerts present countertenor Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen in a program of deeply moving works that affect the soul from joyful compositions by Buxtehude and Hoffmann to Vivaldi’s brooding Stabat Mater, along with a stunning Bach triple concerto and the rich sonorities of Muffat’s Concerto Grosso. 

• Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen “possesses a remarkable gift for intimate communication … combined with a voice of velvety gentleness.” - The New York Times

• The Elizabethan poet Edmund Spenser began one of his most cherished verses, “Faire is the heaven where happy soules have place in full enjoyment of felicitie.” Writers, painters, and composers would often evoke glimpses of the Paradise that could be found in the life beyond, an antidote to the troubled times that were experienced by so many in periods past. Heinrich Schütz’s serenely beautiful Musikalische Exequien draws upon texts from the Psalms, the Canticle of Simeon, Revelations, and the Book of Wisdom to illuminate the recognition of new life, including a dramatic effect of three spirits moving throughout the concert space. The exuberance of the vocal works by Bruhns and Weckmann, and Bach’s peaceful and uplifting Gottes Zeit ist die allerbeste Zeit combine to make this a concert program of heavenly beauty.

• Bach greatly admired the music of his forebears and was often criticized for his traditionalist approach to composition. Nevertheless, we find in Bach’s music many works that were forward-looking and innovative, favoring the Rococo and galant styles that were taking hold throughout Europe. The Missa in A Major is a curious amalgam of the traditional and contemporary, featuring a pair of a relatively “new” instrument on the scene, the flauto traverso. The Pythagorean theory of Harmonia Mundi, built on the premise that music was a central force in the creation of Earth, is given rapturous credence in Handel’s setting of the Ode for Saint Cecilia’s Day, an exquisite Restoration period verse by John Dryden, England’s first Poet Laureate.