International early-music (and contemporary-music) superstars Estelí Gomez (soprano) and Cecilia Duarte (mezzo-soprano) join the Festival Chorus and Orchestra led by Blumenstock for tales and retellings of adoration and anguish in the Venetian Republic. The 45th Festival, La Serenissima: Vivaldi for All Seasons, closes with a rousing program of music of “the sacred and profane.” Two of Vivaldi’s provocative secular cantatas contrast with sacred choral works by Vivaldi, his celebrated Gloria, and the “Red Priest’s” Venetian contemporary Antonio Lotti (1667-1740) whose mesmerizing Crucifixus for eight unaccompanied solo voices is not to be missed. Plus, instrumental works by Vivaldi and Locatelli.
Locatelli: Concerto Grosso in C Minor, Op. 1, No. 11
Vivaldi: Cantata “Vengo a voi, luci adorate” RV 682 – Estelí Gomez, soprano
Vivaldi: Concerto for Strings in G Minor, RV 157
Vivaldi: Cantata “Cessate, o mai, cessate” RV 684 – Cecilia Duarte, mezzo-soprano
-Intermission-
Vivaldi: Sinfonia “Al Santo Sepulcro” RV 169
Lotti: Crucifixus à 8
Vivaldi: Gloria in D Major, RV 589 – soloists: Estelí Gomez, Addy Sterrett, sopranos; Cecilia Duarte, mezzo-soprano; Stephen Hammer, oboe; Kathryn Adduci, trumpet
Estelí Gomez and Addy Sterrett (soprano)
Cecilia Duarte and Sarah Lynch (mezzo-soprano)
Matthew Tresler and Michael Jones (tenor)
Brett McDermid and Scott Graff (baritone)
Festival Orchestra directed by Elizabeth Blumenstock
