Cupid Inspires A Romantic Playlist for Ars Lyrica's Valentine Day Performances
Style Magazine Newswire | 1/22/2015, 12:06 p.m.
HOUSTON, TX – (January 22, 2015) – This Valentine’s Day, Ars Lyrica takes on the most romantic side of Monteverdi, Scarlatti, and Vivaldi. Italians make everything sound romantic, especially in music! A swoon advisory is thus in effect for this performance featuring duets from Claudio Monteverdi and cantatas by Vivaldi and Scarlatti. Two rising stars of the opera world return to the Zilkha Hall stage for this special Valentine’s Day treat: countertenor John Holiday and mezzo-soprano Ellie Jarrett Shattles. This program is part of the third annual Houston Early Music Festival, which runs from February 12–15, 2015 at venues across the city.
Inspired by the passion-filled melodies of the 17th and 18th centuries, Love Letters is a “wonderful opportunity,” according to Artistic Director Matthew Dirst, “to revisit an extraordinary repertory of Italian Baroque chamber works.” His favorites? “Monteverdi’s duets belong on my desert island playlist. Cupid himself couldn’t have invented more sensual music!”.
PERFORMANCE AND TICKET INFO:
Saturday, February 14th, 2015 | 7:30 PM
Zilkha Hall, Hobby Center for the Performing Arts
Ticket Prices: $36-$57
ONLINE: http://www.arslyricahouston.org/love-letters/ or by PHONE Box Office: (713) 315-2525
PROGRAM OUTLINE
Monteverdi, "O come si gentile"
Sances, Ciaccona
Monteverdi, "Dice la mia bellissima Licori"
Merula, Chiacona a 2
Buonamente, Ballo del Gran Ducca
Monteverdi, "Non è di gentil core"
Monteverdi, "Ohimè dov'è il mio ben"
Intermission (15 mins)
Vivaldi, "Cessate, omai, cessate"
Handel, "Fermati" from Rinaldo
D. Scarlatti, "Piangete, occhi dolente"
Handel, "Ricordati" from Flavio
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
ELLIE JARRETT SHATTLES
Ellie Jarrett, mezzo-soprano, is thrilled to be singing again with Ars Lyrica during their 2014-2015 season. She has sung various Händel works with Ars Lyrica, the Houston Symphony, Mercury Baroque and the Richmond Symphony. Ellie has had the opportunity to sing opera roles with many prestigious young artist programs, including Marcellina and Mercédès for Nashville Opera, Rosina for Aspen Opera Theatre, and Dorabella for the Merola Opera Program. In 2011 and 2012, Ellie covered Marthe in Faust and The Fortune Teller in Arabella as an Apprentice Artist for the Santa Fe Opera, and returned in 2013 as part of their Education Development Program to sing Mrs. Noye in Britten’s Noye’s Fludde. Currently, Ms. Jarrett is pursuing her Doctorate from the University of Texas where she is performing Der Komponist in Ariadne auf Naxos, The Baker’s Wife in Into the Woods, and Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro.
JOHN HOLIDAY
A native of Rosenberg, Texas, countertenor John Holiday makes his debut this season with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra in Handel’s Messiah. He also sang the title role in Radamisto at the Juilliard School, to great acclaim in the New York press. His expressive and richly beautiful voice has made him an increasingly sought after artist, one “threatens to equal the name artists in his range,” according to the Herald Times. Last season, John made his Carnegie Hall debut as soloist in Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. He also joined the roster of the Metropolitan Opera to cover Nireno in Giulio Cesare and reprised his roles in Philip Glass’s Galileo Galilei at Cincinnati Opera, having first performed the work at Portland Opera. He has also covered the role of Corrado in Vivaldi’s Griselda at the Santa Fe Opera. First Prizewinner of the Dallas Opera Guild Vocal Competition, John recently received a first prize from the Sullivan Foundation and was also awarded fifth place in the Palm Beach Opera Competition in 2011. In 2007, he was the first place winner in his district of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. In addition to the classical repertoire, John Holiday excels in jazz music, having opened for Grammy award winner Jason Mraz in concert. He is a graduate of Southern Methodist University and the University of Cincinnati-College Conservatory of Music.
MATTHEW DIRST
Artistic Director Matthew Dirst is the first American to win major international prizes in both organ and harpsichord, including the National Guild of Organists Young Artist Competition and the Warsaw International Harpsichord Competition. Widely admired for his stylish playing and conducting of Baroque music especially, the Dallas Morning News named his “crisp but expressive direction” of the Monteverdi 1610 Vespers “Best Classical Performance of 2010.” Early Music America described his most recent solo CD, of harpsichord works by François and Armand-Louis Couperin (Centaur), as a “stylish, tasteful, and technically commanding performance…expressive and brilliant playing.” Dirst’s recordings of music by Alessandro and Domenico Scarlatti and J. A. Hasse with Ars Lyrica Houston, on the Naxos and Sono Luminus labels, have earned a Grammy nomination (for Best Opera 2011) and widespread critical acclaim. His degrees include a PhD in musicology from Stanford University and the prix de virtuosité in both organ and harpsichord from the Conservatoire National de Reuil-Malmaison, France, where he spent two years as a Fulbright scholar. Equally active as a scholar, his work on Bach and Bach reception is published in a variety of journals, and his book Engaging Bach: The Keyboard Legacy from Marpurg to Mendelssohn was published last year by Cambridge University Press. Dirst also serves as Associate Professor of Music at the Moores School of Music, University of Houston, and Organist of St Philip Presbyterian Church in Houston.
About Ars Lyrica Houston
Founded in 1998 by harpsichordist and conductor Matthew Dirst, Ars Lyrica Houston is a Texas-based ensemble that performs world-class Baroque music on period instruments. Ars Lyrica’s world premiere recording of J.A. Hasse’s Marc Antonio e Cleopatra brought the ensemble its first Grammy nomination for “a thrilling performance that glows in its quieter moments and sparkles with vitality” (Early Music America). Ars Lyrica’s distinctive programming, drawn from the rich chamber and dramatic repertories of the 17th and 18th centuries, “sets the agenda for imaginative period instrument programming in Houston,” according to the Houston Chronicle. The ensemble’s first commercial release, on Naxos International, features the world première recordings of Alessandro Scarlatti’s La Concettione della Beata Vergine and Euridice dall’Inferno. This disc brought international recognition to the ensemble: Gramophone, the leading journal of the classical recording industry, praised this CD for its “exemplary skill and taste,” and Ars Lyrica’s musicians for their “impassioned performance” of never-before recorded works. Ars Lyrica’s latest Sono Luminus recording of Domenico Scarlatti’s comic intermezzo La Dirindina and his chamber cantata Pur nel sonno was released in August 2012. For more information visit www.arslyricahouston.org.