RESTROOMS are located: Single stall in main lobby (accessible) Orchestra level inside the hall, the men’s on house left and women’s on

house right. Requires going down steps. Balcony Level through center door in back, under the exit sign

LATECOMERS will be seated after the first piece on the program. If you must leave during the performance, please quietly use the rear exit of the hall.

LARGE PRINT PROGRAMS are available in the back of the hall. Please ask an usher to bring you one.

WHEELCHAIR ACCESS is located house left. Please the R&B staff mem-ber or usher stationed at this door for help. Arrangements can also be made in advance when purchasing tickets to the performance.

ACCESSIBILITY R&B is committed to making our concert series accessible. If an accommodation would help you fully participate in our programs, please contact Gail Luley (director@rbsp.org or 412.361.2048) two weeks before the event.

FOR THE ENJOYMENT OF ALL PATRONS…

Please turn off all cell phones and electronic devices before the con-cert begins and refrain from texting or using any lighted device dur-ing the performance.

Take a moment to unwrap candies, lozenges or tissues before the concert begins.

Flash photography and the use of recording devices of any kind, audio or video, are strictly prohibited.

Thank you for your consideration!

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Renaissance & Baroque 5530 Penn Avenue Pittsburgh, PA 15206

FOR YOUR INFORMATION

Renaissance & Baroque is music of the Middle Ages, Renaissance, Baroque, and Early Classical periods (roughly 1200 to 1800) performed by artists who specialize in historical performance.

It's HIP — which means "Historically Informed Performance." Our per-formers go back in time for music, instrument designs, and perfor-mance styles - bringing music to the 21st century as it sounded in the time and place of its creation.

It’s unpredictable. Sometimes "historically informed" means impro-vised, which is music composed on the spot by the performer. It’s quirky and full of surprises. You might hear a turn-of-the-millennium piece from either 1000 or 2000. You might hear Vivaldi's Four Seasons played not on strings but on recorders.

2014-2015 marks R&B’s 46th season of bringing the best in Early Mu-sic to Pittsburgh, which has included concerts by over 200 different ensembles.

R&B produces an outreach and education program in the community. The musicians performing on the concert series extend their time in Pittsburgh to teach, demonstrate, lecture, and perform in schools, uni-versities, medical facilities, and concert halls.

Synod Hall is one of the finest acoustic spaces for early music in Pitts-burgh. In style and acoustics, the auditorium in Synod Hall resembles a Renaissance "oratorio" - a room for orations (and the origin of the mu-sical term).

For more information about R&B visit www.rbsp.org

DID YOU KNOW?

Join us for our 2015-2016 season — Mythical Worlds.

Anonymous 4— Anthology 25 October 3, 2015 Dark Horse Consort—The Sound of St. Mark’s November 14, 2015 El Mundo—Buon Natale y Felices Fiestas December 12, 2015 Aulos Ensemble—Crossing Borders: Multiculturalism in the 18th Century January 16, 2016 The Sebastians—Orfeo del Violin February 6, 2016 FleytMuzik—Tartan, Baroque, & Klezmer March 5, 2016 Henry Purcell’s The Fairy Queen—a collaborative

project by R&B, Chatham Baroque, the Pittsburgh Camerata, and Don Franklin.

April 9 & 10, 2016

Tickets are available now at rbsp.org or by calling 412.361.2048.

Apollo’s Fire

The Four Seasons: Rediscovered

Jeannette Sorrell, Music Director

Olivier Brault, violin

La Primavera (Spring), Op. 8 no. 1 Antonio Vivaldi Allegro 1678—1741 Largo—Allegro

L’Estate (Summer), Op. 8 no. 2 Vivaldi

Allegro non molto—Allegro Adagio e piano Presto: Tempo impetuoso d’estate Oliver Brault, violin

The Forest Unending (selections) René Duchiffre

Sinfonia on “For the Beauty of the Earth” b. 1961 Chaconne

Intermission

Concerto in D minor Vivaldi for Two Violins & Cello, Op. 3 no. 11

Allegro—Adagio e spiccato—Allegro Largo e spiccato Allegro Johanna Novom & Julie Andrijeski, violin Rene Schiffer, cello

L’Autunno (Autumn), Op. 8 no. 3 Vivaldi

Allegro Adagio molto—Allegro

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L’Inverno (Winter), Op. 8 no. 4 Vivaldi Allegro non molto Largo—Allegro Olivier Brault, violin

Concerto Grosso “La Folia” (Madness) Vivaldi/ arr. Sorrell After the Triosonata in D minor, Op. 1 no. 12

Olivier Brault & Johanna Novom, violin

*** Apollo’s Fire CD’s, including Vivaldi’s La Folia and a live record-ing of The Four Seasons, are for sale in the lobby.

Priests & Orphans in the City of Decadence by Jeannette Sorrell

One day when Vivaldi (the Redhead Priest) was saying Mass, a musical theme came into his mind. He at once left the altar where he was officiating and repaired to the sacristy to write out his theme, then he came back to finish the Mass. He was reported to the Inquisition, which luckily looked on him as a musician, that is, AS A MADMAN, and merely forbade him to say Mass from that time forward.

-- P. L. de Boisgelou, 1800 The setting: Venice, 1st half of the 18th century. The glittering city floating on the sea is a monument to man’s triumph over nature--a wonder of the world. As its political power begins to decline, proud Venice becomes absorbed in self-indulgence, sensual decadence, and the pursuit of pleasure. Lavish spectacles abound. The city already begins to live from tourism. European princes and repressed British aristocrats flock here, where the over 10,000 elegant prostitutes are not the least of the attractions. Music is the other supreme attraction, flourishing in no less than eight(!) opera theatres. It also thrives in the four religious orphanages that Venice maintains for its several thousand illegitimate and orphaned girls

PROGRAM NOTES

(remember the large number of prostitutes….) Orphanages as musical attractions? Wait and see… Scene I: A Cathedral of Venice, c. 1706. A young priest with flaming red hair is saying Mass. Suddenly, in mid-sentence, he leaves the altar and secludes himself in the sacristy. The faithful are left in suspense. Will he come back? People finger their rosaries nervously. After about 20 minutes, a stout woman mutters, “Basta!” (enough!) and briskly exits. As the others start to follow, the priest returns and takes up where he had left off. People dash back to their seats and cross themselves. What led to his sudden exit? Vivaldi’s explanation, in a letter of 1737:

When I had been ordained a priest for a year or a bit more, I discontinued saying Mass, having had to leave the altar without completing it because of a chest ailment…that has burdened me since birth. For this reason I nearly always stay home, and I only go out in a gondola because I can no longer walk.

However, this story is not credible in view of Vivaldi’s hectic travel schedule as impresario, conductor and entrepreneur throughout Europe. The view of Mr. Boisgelou, quoted above, was shared by other writers of the time: Vivaldi’s ambitions lay in the music world, not the priesthood. Scene II: The Pietà, famous orphanage of Venice, 1724. Sunday afternoon: the chapel of the Pietà is packed with well-to-do Venetians and distinguished foreign visitors. They stare in fascination at the gallery above, where an orchestra of about 40 girls performs the latest concertos of their music-master, Vivaldi. The prete rosso, or “Redhead Priest,” is now 46 and celebrated throughout Europe. But perhaps he is not as famous as these orphan girls for whom he composes. The girls give world-class virtuoso performances, and their Sunday concerts (technically church services) are the greatest tourist attraction of Venice. The girls, dressed in white, are partly screened from view by a wrought-iron lattice, much to the chagrin of the audience. There is rustling in the crowd as a favorite young soloist, Anna Maria del Violino, takes her place in front of the orchestra. But before she begins to play, the Redhead Priest unexpectedly reads aloud - a poem about Spring. When the performance begins, the music seems stunningly modern. Bird calls, thunder, and

PROGRAM NOTES CONTINUED

even the barking of a sheepdog (portrayed by the violas) are all brilliantly depicted in the music. The crowd has never heard music telling a story in such a detailed way. The solo violin part played by Signorina Anna Maria is formidable. Following the performance, Anna Maria and Maestro Vivaldi are both greeted by ecstatic coughing and shuffling from the crowd, who are not allowed to applaud at this “church service.” Several wealthy gentlemen make their way to the iron screen to proffer marriage proposals to Anna Maria and a few other of the prettiest girls.

* * * Vivaldi, in these concertos for his young protégés, was the great developer of ritornello form – the form that became the model for concerto-writing by all European composers of the century, including J.S. Bach. The Italian word “ritornello” means something that returns. The same word is used to mean the refrain in pop music – and indeed, Vivaldi’s ritornellos convey the bold and driving sense of rhythm and melody that is more commonly associated with pop music. In 1725 Vivaldi published a collection of twelve concertos titled Il cimento dell’Armonia e dell’Inventione - The Contest Between Harmony and Invention. With this curious title, he unleashed a revolutionary concept upon Western music: should music simply be about harmony, or could it serve to illustrate inventive ideas, events, moods, natural scenes, etc? Vivaldi set out to prove that it could do both. The first four concertos of the collection, titled Le Quattro Stagioni (The Four Seasons), are virtuoso demonstrations of music in the service of storytelling – in this case, the story of Nature and her various moods. Though Vivaldi had written music in imitation of Nature before, he took the art to new heights this time, supplying sonnets to clarify the meaning of the music. Scholars generally believe that the sonnets were composed by Vivaldi himself, as they do not seem to be the work of a trained poet. The “Spring” concerto features bird calls, murmuring brooks, and the famous “barking dog” (represented by boisterous violas). The third movement is a delightful peasant dance using a drone in the bass to suggest the musettes or bagpipes associated with outdoor festivities.

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The “Summer” concerto is a brilliant evocation of hot summer days in Italy – sighing in the heat, the buzzing of flies and wasps, and a stunning depiction of a thunderstorm. Anyone who has been in Italy during a summer storm will appreciate how the torrent of cascading violin scales evokes the onslaught of rain when the clouds burst. The practice of transcribing violin pieces into keyboard pieces was widespread in the 18th century. My own transcription of Vivaldi’s “Summer” concerto follows the model of Bach’s Concerto for Four Harpsichords, which he transcribed from Vivaldi’s Concerto for Four Violins. The “Autumn” concerto concerns the merry gatherings of peasants celebrating the harvest – including a fair amount of drinking. While the peasants sleep off their wine in the second movement, we are awakened in the third movement to join a hunting party. In the “Winter” concerto, Vivaldi partly dispenses with ritornello form in order to relate the details of winter life: we begin stiff with cold, then the howling wind appears, and the famous chattering teeth (violins playing staccato repeated notes, very high and fast). In the second movement we experience a more typical Venetian winter: drizzling rain, brought to life by pizzicato violins. The role of the performer as an animated and improvisatory storyteller was fundamental to baroque performance, and especially to Vivaldi’s music. The notes on the page exist to convey an emotion or mood or event, and the performer’s job is to evoke those feelings in the listener. Thus these concertos are a fresh experience for us each night – always an adventure. Scholars believe that the great Follia or folia tune and dance originated in Portugal, where young girls would engage in the “folly” of a wild dance around the fire. The follia is a triple-meter ground bass, beginning in a haughty sarabande-like rhythm, and traditionally growing faster and faster toward the end. It was said that the Portugese girls finished in a state of frenzied collapse. The tune is full of the dramatic tension of courtship and seduction, and has served as the inspiration for variations by dozens of baroque composers, including Corelli, Marais, Geminiani, C.P.E. Bach, and of course, Vivaldi. Vivaldi’s version, which I believe is the finest of them all, was originally a triosonata; I arranged it as a concerto grosso so that all of us could join in the fray.

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“Duchiffre” is the pen-name of our principal cellist, René Schiffer, whose compositions in historical styles have graced the stages of a growing number of orchestras. The Forest Unending was commission by Apollo’s Fire in 1995 for the twentieth anniversary of Earth Day. The piece is in French baroque style but features the melody of the well known hymn "For the Beauty of the Earth." In these concerts we perform two movements from the original cantata. The Sinfonia is a serene baroque fantastia on the hymn tune, while the Chaconne is a joyous and exuberant celebration of the hymn’s theme. It is not surprising that Vivaldi’s concertos are by far the most popular pieces in the classical repertoire. Like pop composers today, Vivaldi was writing these concertos for teenagers – (orphaned ones, in his case). Inspired by the youthful energy of his young interpreters, he imbued his

PROGRAM NOTES CONTINUED

Vivaldi’s Orphan Girls The orphans for whom Vivaldi was writing may have been the most mu-sic-absorbed young people that history has known. These girls had no identity other than their roles in the elite orchestra. They had no last names, and were known as “Marietta dal Violino,” or “Bernardina dal Violoncello,” etc. Vivaldi often wrote his concertos for a particular girl, indicating her name at the top of the manuscript. Many of the most virtuosic violin concertos were written for “Anna Maria dal Violino.” It is well known that these orphans received proposals of marriage from wealthy gentlemen. What most people do not realize, though, is that any orphan of the Pietà who chose to marry was required to sign a con-tract saying that she would never perform as a musician again. This was how the Pietà maintained its standing as a leading tourist attraction of the world. Thus, many of the girls turned down their marriage offers, be-cause they could not face the idea of living without music. Anna Maria dal Violino received proposals year after year, and was the subject of love poems printed in Venice newspapers. Nevertheless, she apparently could not bring herself to marry in view of the sacrifice she would have to make. She remained at the Pietà her entire life, becoming the principal Maestra of the orchestra.

“The U.S.A.’s hottest baroque band” -- Classical Music Magazine, UK

“Led by a brilliant harpsichordist, Jeannette Sorrell, the ensemble exudes stylish energy –

a blend of scholarship and visceral intensity.” -- GRAMOPHONE

Named for the classical god of music and the sun, Apollo’s Fire was founded in 1992 by the award- winning young harpsichordist and conductor Jeannette Sorrell. Sorrell envisioned an ensemble dedicated to the baroque ideal that music should evoke the various Affekts or passions in the listeners. Apollo’s Fire is a collection of creative artists who share Sorrell’s passion for drama and rhetoric. Hailed as “one of the pre-eminent period-instrument ensembles” (THE INDEPENDENT, London), Apollo’s Fire made its London debut in 2010 in a sold-out concert at Wigmore Hall, with a BBC broadcast. AF returned to Europe in 2011 and 2014, and has been met with standing ovations at Madrid’s Royal Theatre, Bordeaux’s Grand Théàtre de l’Opéra, and major venues in Lisbon, Metz (FR), Birmingham (UK) and Bregenz (Austria). AF’s London 2014 concert was praised as “an evening of superlative music-making… the group combines European stylishness with American entrepreneurialism” (THE TELEGRAPH, UK). This concert was chosen by the TELEGRAPH as one of the “Best 5 Classical Concerts of 2014.” In summer 2015, Apollo’s Fire makes its debut at the TANGLEWOOD FESTIVAL, the BBC PROMS in London, the ALDEBURGH FESTIVAL (UK), and the FESTIVAL PAESAGGI MUSICALI TOSCANI in Tuscany. The tour

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

concertos with the same sense of driving rhythm and earthy harmonies that we all respond to in rock music. We in Apollo’s Fire think of him as the rock-n-roll composer of the 18th century.

*** Apollo’s Fire’s CD recordings of Vivaldi, including La Folia and a live recording of The Four Seasons, are for sale in the lobby.

PROGRAM NOTES CONTINUED APOLLO’S FIRE

The Cleveland Baroque Orchestra

Jeannette Sorrell, Music Director

VIOLIN (section players rotate, listed alphabetically) Olivier Brault, concertmaster Johanna Novom, assoc. Julie Andrijeski, princ. Evan Few Andrew Fouts Adriane Post Emi Tanabe VIOLA Karina Schmitz Kristen Linfante

CELLO René Schiffer, princ. Rebecca Landell CONTRABASS Sue Yelanjian THEORBO/GUITAR Simon Martyn-Ellis HARPSICHORD Jeannette Sorrell

Johanna Novom, violin, appears as a soloist, principal, chamber and orchestral musician with period ensembles across the United States. A graduate of Oberlin Conservatory and a First Prize winner of the American Bach Soloists’ Young Artist Competition, she performs with the American Bach Soloists, Trinity Wall Street Baroque Orchestra, Chatham Baroque, Dallas Bach Society and New York State Baroque, among others. She has recently participated in the Carmel Bach Festival, Boston Early Music Festival, Magnolia Baroque Festival and, in Russia, Moscow’s Golden Mask Festival. She is a member of the Diderot String Quartet. Julie Andrijeski, violin, teaches and performs as both violinist and baroque dancer. A founding member of Apollo’s Fire, she is also artistic director of the Atlanta Baroque Orchestra, co-director of the 17th-century ensemble Quicksilver, and concertmaster of NYS Baroque. She teaches baroque violin at the Cleveland Institute of Music, lectures at Case Western Reserve University, and also directs the Case Baroque Orchestra, Chamber Ensembles and Baroque Dance Ensemble. In addition to recording with Apollo’s Fire, she has recorded for Dorian, Acis, Centaur and Musica Omnia. René Schiffer, cello, is one of the leading baroque continuo cellists on the international scene. A protégé of the renowned cellist Anner Bijlsma in the Netherlands, he also studied with Jaap ter Linden and later studied viola da gamba with Catharina Meints at Oberlin Conservatory. He toured internationally as a member of La Petite Bande (Sigiswald Kuiken) for 16 years and performed with the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra, Les Musiciens du Louvre, Il Gardellino, and in over 50 projects with Tafelmusik (Toronto). He can be heard on the Harmonia Mundi, Philips, Virgin Classics, Erato, and Sony labels. As a composer, his works in historical styles have been performed by orchestras in Europe, Australia and the U.S. His reconstructions in historic styles include completions of the lost Lacrimosa of the Mozart Requiem and the lost Baccanale ending of Monteverdi’s Orfeo, both available on CD by Apollo’s Fire. He is also a featured composer on the Apollo’s Fire CD Vivaldi & Friends.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS CONTINUED ABOUT THE ARTISTS CONTINUED

program, “A Night at Bach’s Coffeehouse,” features Brandenburg Concerto no. 5 with Jeannette Sorrell as soloist. Apollo’s Fire has also toured throughout North America, appearing at the Aspen Music Festival, the Boston Early Music Festival series, the Library of Congress, the Tropical Baroque Festival in Miami, the Ojai International Festival in California, and major venues in Boston, Toronto, Los Angeles and San Francisco. The ensemble has performed two major U.S. tours of the Monteverdi Vespers (2010 and 2014) and a 9-concert tour of the Brandenburg Concertos in 2013. Apollo’s Fire is signed to Columbia Artists Management (CAMI) for exclusive representation in North and South America, and is managed in Europe by Intermusica (London). At home in Cleveland, Apollo’s Fire enjoys sold-out performances at its subscription series, which has drawn national attention for creative programming. Apollo’s Fire has released 20 commercial CD’s, and currently records for the British label AVIE. Since the ensemble’s introduction into the European CD market in 2010, the recordings have won rave reviews in the London press: “a swaggering version, brilliantly played” (THE TIMES) and “the Midwest’s best-kept musical secret is finally reaching British ears” (THE INDEPENDENT). Four of the

ensemble's CD releases have become best-sellers on the classical Billboard chart: the Monteverdi Vespers, Bach's Brandenburg Concertos, and Jeannette Sorrell’s two crossover programs, "Come to the River" and "Sacrum Mysterium: A Celtic Christmas Vespers." JEANNETTE SORRELL, CONDUCTOR & HARPSICHORDIST “Under the inspired leadership of Jeannette Sorrell, Apollo’s Fire has become one of the pre-eminent period-instrument ensembles, causing one to hear baroque material anew.”

­‐THE INDEPENDENT, London Jeannette Sorrell has quickly gained international attention as a leading creative voice among the new generation of early-music conductors. She has been credited by the U.K.’s BBC MUSIC MAGAZINE for forging “a vibrant, life-affirming approach to the re-making of early music… a seductive vision of musical authenticity.” Sorrell was one of the youngest students ever accepted to the prestigious conducting courses of the Aspen and the Tanglewood music festivals. She studied conducting under Robert Spano, Roger Norrington and Leonard Bernstein, and harpsichord with Gustav Leonhardt in Amsterdam. She won both First Prize and the Audience Choice Award in the 1991 Spivey International Harpsichord Competition, competing against over 70 harpsichordists from Europe, Israel, the U.S., and the Soviet Union. Sorrell founded Apollo’s Fire in 1992. Since then, she and the ensemble have built one of the largest audiences of any baroque orchestra in North America. She has led AF in sold-out concerts at London’s Wigmore Hall, Madrid’s Royal Theatre (Teatro Real), the Grand Théâtre de l’Opéra in Bordeaux, Boston’s Early Music Festival, and the Aspen Music Festival, among others. Sorrell made her debut with the Pittsburgh Symphony in 2013 as conductor and soloist in the complete Brandenburg Concertos. With standing ovations every night, the event was hailed as “an especially joyous occasion” (Pittsburgh Tribune-Review). She has also appeared as conductor or conductor/soloist with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Seattle Symphony, the Opera Theatre of St. Louis with the St.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS CONTINUED ABOUT THE ARTISTS CONTINUED

Louis Symphony, Handel & Haydn Society (Boston), the Omaha Symphony, Grand Rapids Symphony, and has appeared with the Cleveland Orchestra as guest keyboard artist. Engagements this season included a debut with New World Symphony in Miami and a return to the Pittsburgh Symphony. Sorrell and Apollo’s Fire have released 20 commercial CDs, of which four have been bestsellers on the Billboard classical chart. Her recordings include the complete Brandenburg Concerti and harpsichord concerti of Bach (with Sorrell as harpsichord soloist and director), which was praised by the London Times as “a swaggering version… brilliantly played by Sorrell.” She has also released four discs of Mozart, and was hailed as “a near-perfect Mozartian” by Fanfare Record Magazine. Other recordings include Handel’s Messiah, the Monteverdi Vespers and two creative crossover projects: “Come to the River: An Early American Gathering” and “Sacrum Mysterium: A Celtic Christmas Vespers.” Sorrell has attracted national attention and awards for creative programming. She holds an honorary doctorate from Case Western University, two special awards from the National Endowment for the Arts for her work on early American music, and an award from the American Musicological Society. ARTIST PROFILES Olivier Brault, violin, from Terrebonne in Québec, brings communicative energy and scholarship to concerts throughout North America and Europe. In addition to leading his chamber ensemble Sonate 1704, he performs as soloist with Les Goûts Réunis (Luxembourg) and many Montréal ensembles including Ensemble Caprice, Les Boréades, La Bande Montréal Baroque, the Quator Franz Josef, and Les Idées Heureuses. He holds a doctorate in baroque violin from the Université de Montréal. He has led workshops and masterclasses at McGill University, the Montreal Conservatory, Oberlin, and Case Western Reserve University. He can be heard on many award-winning recordings on the ATMA and Analekta labels. In 2011 he received the medal of the Assemblée Nationale du Québec for cultural contributions to his nation.