Tragicomedia and Friends
Stephen Stubbs, director
Saturday, June 18 at 11pm | NEC's Jordan Hall
Stephen Stubbs, director, chitarrone & Baroque guitar; Erin Headley, viola da gamba; Paul O’Dette, theorbo & Baroque guitar; Maxine Eilander, Baroque harp; Kristian Bezuidenhout, harpsichord; Ellen Hargis & Mireille Asselin, soprano; Matthew White, countertenor; Jason McStoots, tenor; Douglas Williams, bass-baritone
FIORATURA: THE VOCAL CHAMBER DUETS OF
STEFFANI AND HANDEL
A Saturday-night institution at the Festival,
Tragicomedia returns for another must-see late-night
concert! Near the end of the 17th century there was a
sudden flourishing of the vocal chamber duet in the
courts of Italy and Germany, led in large part by
Agostino Steffani. Featuring the sparkling “fioratura”
of the “virtuosi da camera” at those courts, it grew up
in parallel to the instrumental trio sonata of Corelli
and others. As a young man, Handel mastered
Steffani’s style in the chamber duet for use in his own
magnificent contributions to the genre. This program
explores that connection and metamorphosis.
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