DAZZLING ITALIAN BAROQUE ARIAS - SAT. MAR. 15, 7:30 PM
Consortium Aurora Borealis presents an exhilarating evening of Dazzling Italian Baroque Arias on Saturday, March 15. Special guest Irina Medvedeva brings her flexible, supple, yet powerful soprano voice to wow and delight as she performs gorgeous music from 18th-century operas and motets by Vivaldi, Handel, and Hasse. Moods range from gentle, lyrical and pastoral to passionate, dramatic and fiery, with virtuosic display!
A light and buoyantly joyous aria from Handel’s opera Alcina is followed by one assigned to the beautiful sorceress Morgana, in a totally different mood, gorgeous, slow, with a ravishing solo cello line interweaving with the voice.
We include two of Cleopatra’s arias from Handel’s historic opera Giulio Cesare, the transcendent “Piangerò - I mourn my fate”, slow and languishing and the animated “Da tempeste”, a sparkling, extremely virtuosic coloratura aria, with demanding vocal acrobatics.
Instrumentally, we’ll hear Vivaldi’s energetic sinfonia from L’Olimpiade, the overture and dance suite from Rodrigo (Handel’s first opera written for performance in Italy), and to dazzle you, a very fiery string sinfonia by Hasse, which matches the mood of some of the arias.
Vivaldi’s bold Latin motet “In furore” rages stormily with fury and drama. “Morte col fiero aspetto - Death with its fierce face”, a demanding and dramatic coloratura aria from Hasse’s Marc’Antonio e Cleopatra and originally performed by super-star castrato Farinelli, parallels the virtuosity and intensity of Cleopatra’s “Da tempeste” by Handel, sung earlier by Irina. It’s a most brilliant conclusion to an evening celebrating Italian Baroque opera’s vocal luminaries.
Soprano Irina Medvedeva is joined by violinists William Sirois and James Moat, violist Patrick Horn, cellist Peter Cosbey, and harpsichordist Elizabeth Ganiatsos. The buzz has already gone out about this extraordinary concert; we can’t wait to amaze you! _____________ This concert is sponsored by the Institute of Italian Studies - Lakehead University.
Saturday, March 15, 2025, 7:30 p.m. St. Paul’s United Church, 349 Waverley Street, Thunder Bay Doors open at 7:00 p.m. The church is accessible (elevator)
Admission at the door is $25; $15 students. 11 and under free Concert tickets are available in person (cash or cheque), and also online through our website. https://consortiumab.org/tickets
