April 27, 2018 April 28, 2018 April 29, 2018 St. Noel Church Lakewood Congregational Church Plymouth Church UCC LET THE HEAVENS REJOICE! Concert de Simphonies (1730) – Jacques Aubert (1689–1753) Ouverture – Menuets – Gigues Sarabande – Tambourins – Chaconne In convertendo – Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683–1764) Récit: In convertendo (Owen McIntosh) Choeur: Tunc repletum est gaudio Duo: Magnificavit Dominus (Elena Mullins, Jeffrey Strauss) Récit: Converte Domine captivitatem nostram (Strauss) Choeur dialogué: Laudate nomen Dei (Sarah Coffman) Trio: Qui seminant in lacrimis (McIntosh, Mullins, Strauss) Choeur: Euntes ibant et flebant INTERMISSION Conserva me (1756) – Louis-Antoine Lefebvre (1700–1763) Owen McIntosh, tenor Salve Regina à trois choeurs and basse continue – Marc-Antoine Charpentier (1643–1704) Quire Cleveland Venite exultemus (1743) – Jean-Joseph Cassanea de Mondonville (1711–1772) Récit et choeur: Venite exultemus (Mullins, Coffman) Récit: Quoniam Deus Magnus Dominus (Strauss) Récit: Quoniam ipsius est mare (Strauss) Récit: Venite adoremus (Mullins) Récit: Quia ipse est Dominus (Mullins) Récit et choeur: Hodie si vocem (Coffman) Récit: Sicut in exacerbatione (McIntosh) Récit: Quadraginta annis proximus fui (McIntosh) Duo et choeur: Gloria patri (Coffman, Mullins) Quire Cleveland (Ross Duffin, Artistic Director) Les Délices (Debra Nagy, Artistic Director) Scott Metcalfe, Guest Conductor Heartfelt thanks to Charlotte & Jack Newman and Donald W. Morrison for their generous sponsorship of this program. 2017/2018 SEASON anniversaries HELP YOUR and FAVORITE ARTS farewells ORGANIZATION Martin Kessler MUSIC DIRECTOR AS A VOLUNTEER! OPPORTUNITIES INCLUDE: Event Support MAESTRO’S FINAL CONCERT October 15th May 14th at 8pm December 10th Artist Host February 4th Maltz Performing Arts Center at the Temple-Tifereth Israel March 18th Sponsored By Case Western Ambassador Reserve Department of Music Admin. Support CONCERTS ARE FREE STARTING AT 3:30 Speak to our staff or call BEACHWOOD HIGH SCHOOL 25100 Fairmount Boulevard (216) 302-8404 SUBURBANSYMPHONY.ORG r more information : quirecleveland.org “Apollo’s Fire created a magic carpet that swept the audience away.” –COOLCLEVELAND.COM BAROQUE ORCHESTRA jeannette sorrell COUNTRYSIDE CONCERTS 2018 Tarantella! RHYTHMS OF THE OLD MEDITERRANEAN JUNE 8-12 | HUNTING VALLEY, AVON LAKE CHARDON & BATH AMANDA POWELL, soprano & co-director | BRIAN KAY, oud, lute & co-director JEANNETTE SORRELL, lautenwerck & co-director Last summer’s “Mediterranean Roots” program raised the rafters, and now it returns in a fresh, new version. Soulful singers Amanda Powell and Brian Kay celebrate the common ties of Spanish, Italian, Greek, and Arabic cultures, along with a colorful ensemble of plucked instruments, recorder, strings, hammered dulcimer, and exotic percussion. The Lautenwerck – a beautiful lute-like keyboard instrument – makes its debut on the AF stage at the hands of Jeannette Sorrell. Tickets at 216.320.0012 | apollosfire.org af1718_lesDelices_apr.indd 1 4/10/18 1:03 PM Notes on the Program In the decade following the death Louis XIV (France’s cultural and political titan), and with no clear successor to Jean-Baptiste Lully (the great composer of tragédie lyrique), enthusiasm for French opera was faltering. At the same time, the long-forbidden Italian music was rising in prominence/popularity. Furthermore, with Louis XIV out of the picture, the rising haute bourgeoisie of cosmopolitan, modern Paris – and not courtiers at Versailles – were setting trends and spending money on entertainment. It was in this context that Paris’ first concert seriesLe Concert Spirituel was created in 1725. But since businesses had to be registered with the government, the series had to comply with (or find loopholes in) restrictions imposed by state-sanctioned monopolies (such as the Opéra). As a result, performances by the Concert Spirituel were limited to when the opera and other important theaters were closed, which left about 30 eligible days per year (such as the three weeks of Lent, Pentecost, All Saints, Christmas, and all the festivals of the Virgin). The series’ director Anne Danican Philidor was likewise forbidden to produce concerts including music sung in French. While these might seem like steep limitations, Philidor seized the opportunity to present non-French-language, non-secular rep and to privilege new music of all sorts, particularly Italian music. As this 1754 concert poster demonstrates, the series’ concerts might open with a new “Symphonie” for orchestra followed by a resplendent Motet à grand choeur (including trumpets, drums, and horns). The central part of the program would feature stars from the opera, visiting foreigners, or a child prodigy in various solos before concluding with another Motet for large forces. Our program tonight is clearly modeled on the Concert Spirituel, spotlighting rarely- heard Motets à grand choeur (Grand Motets) In convertendo by Jean-Philippe Rameau and Jean-Joseph Cassanea de Mondonville’s Venite Exultemus. We open our program with a Concert de Simphonie by violinist Jacques Aubert (who also served as Concert Spirituel concertmaster through the 1730s), feature a gorgeous 11-voice Salve Regina by Marc-Antoine Charpentier, and present tenor Owen McIntosh in the modern- premiere of Louis-Antoine Lefebvre’s Conserva me. Though based on psalm texts, Grand Motets had no important liturgical function. In fact, during the reign of “Sun King” Louis XIV (that absolutist monarch who sought to blur the line between man and God–whether Greek or Christian), Grand Motets were performed at Low Masses. Many of these works had the ultimate intent of celebrating the King. Like the operas and ballets that also resulted from Louis XIV’s patronage, Grand Motets were extravagant in their colorful orchestration and word painting, powerful (with their 5-part Grand choeur performing both complex fugues and strong, homophonic choruses), and musically varied (composed in multiple sections, including récits for virtuoso solo singers). Best known as a composer of opera, Rameau wrote In convertendo as an early sacred masterpiece that anticipates the sensitive orchestration and brilliant energy of his later dramatic works. In fact, Rameau didn’t break into the opera world before he was 50; the first part of his career was spent as a church musician.In convertendo is thought to have been composed during his time as organist in Lyon (1713–15) or perhaps in Clermont-Ferrand (1715–1722), but was later reworked for performances at the Concert Sprirituel in 1751. In convertendo is remarkable for its intimate, haunting opening, the exciting bass solo depicting flowing streams (or are they gushing rapids?) with the text sicut torrens in austro, and the Italianate trio Qui seminant in lacrimis, whose unison orchestral ritornelli recall Vivaldi. When In convertendo was heard for the first time in Paris in 1751, the solorécits would have been performed by virtuosi from the opera or the court. Vocal soloists were also sometimes featured in petit motets. In the case of Louis-Antoine Lefebvre’s Conserva me, the published score memorializes not only the premiere performances in March of 1755 but also its soloist, Mr. Godard, a star tenor at the Opéra Comique in both Paris and Vienna who also created the title role in Rameau’s Pygmalion (1752). Louis-Antoine Lefebvre (1700–1763) was organist at Paris’s Royal church of St. Louis-en-l’Isle. One of several motets that Lefebvre tailor-made for Godard, Conserva me’s delicate opening récit recalls the intimate introduction to Rameau’s In convertendo. The brilliant aria that follows Laudabo salvatorem is a show- stopper full of fabulous coloratura for a world-class soloist. Though hardly a household name today, Jean-Joseph Cassanea de Mondonville (1711–1772) was a violin virtuoso, conductor, and composer who stood on par with Jean-Philippe Rameau. He made his celebrated Paris debut in 1733, and published his first set of violin sonatas the following year. Mondonville enjoyed a court appointment as violinist to both the Royal chamber and the chapel, and was associated with the Concert Spirituel from 1748 (he became director in 1755). He was a proponent of new music, an experimental composer, and his Grand Motets enjoyed incredible popularity. In fact, Mondonville was the composer most frequently played at the Concert Spirituel (39 different works were performed totaling 510 performances); Venite Exultemus enjoyed over 60 performances alone in 20 years. With powerful choruses, deft and brilliant writing for violins, flutes, and oboes, and complete with both intimate and effusive solos, we do hope that you’ll agree with Mercure de France’s 1752 remarks, “The work Venite exultemus, which brought the concert to a close, provided the crowning point for the audience.” – Debra Nagy WE BELIEVE IN “ideastream is the perfect vehicle to provide classical music to the community. I’m a long- time listener of WCLV. I love being able to listen to the Cleveland Orchestra broadcasts…I really feel like I’m there every time.” - Alan Markowitz & Cathy Pollard Find out more at ideastream.org/support Performers LES DÉLICES QUIRE CLEVELAND VIOLINS & VIOLAS FLUTES SOPRANO TENOR Julie Andrijeski Kathie Stewart Kristine Caswelch Nathan Dougherty Scott Metcalfe Sarah Lynn Sarah Coffman Bryan Munch Allison Monroe Melanie Emig Corey Shotwell OBOES Alice Culin-Ellison Donna Fagerhaug Brian Wentzel Debra Nagy Alan Choo Elena Mullins Kathryn Montoya BASS Cynthia Black Gail West Ian Crane BASSOON