Événement

Central City Chorus presents "Händel in Italy"

Georg Friedrich Händel (1685-1759)
Dixit Dominus, HWV 232
Nisi Dominus, HWV 238
Concerto Großo, Op. 6, No. 6, HWV 324

Madeline Healey & Olivia Greene, sopranos
Hai-Ting Chinn, mezzo-soprano
David Root, tenor
Charles Sprawls, bass
REBEL Ensemble for Baroque Music
Central City Chorus
Phillip Cheah, Music Director

Central City Chorus kicks off its 37th season with a program showcasing the youthful exuberance of Georg Friedrich Händel's brief sojourn in Italy with his fiery psalm settings and one of his Italianate Concerto Großo. The concert will take place on Saturday, December 16th at 7:30 p.m. at St. Ignatius of Antioch Episcopal Church on West 87th Street between Broadway and West End Avenue in Manhattan.

In 1706, the 21 year old Händel travelled to Italy, premièring operas in both Florence and Venice to great acclaim. The performance of opera, however, had been banned in the Papal States, so by the time he reached Rome in 1707, Händel started composing sacred music and secular cantatas. "Dixit Dominus", a dramatic, brilliant, and virtuosic setting of Psalm 110, was written in Rome, most likely at the behest of one of the City's powerful cardinals. The other psalm setting that will be heard on the program, "Nisi Dominus", was also written at about the same time. In 1712, Händel decided to settle permanently in England, becoming a naturalised British subject about fifteen years later. His Concerto Großi, Op. 6, were written in 1739 and hark back to the Italianate school of Arcangelo Corelli with whom Händel had encountered all those years ago in Rome.

Tickets are $30 ($25 student/seniors) at the door or $25 in advance. For more information, please visit www.centralcitychorus.org.