SACRO AMORVIVALDI & HASSE

SEASON

2021

Beethoven’s Pastoral JUNE

Haydn & Bell: A Life in Letters | AUGUST

Mozart’s Prague DECEMBER

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SACRO AMOR

DIGITAL SERIES ONE

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PROGRAMVIVALDI Concerto for Strings in F major RV 136 VIVALDI Sum in medio tempestatum Motet for soprano, strings and continuo RV 632 VIVALDI Concerto for flute Op. 10 No. 2 in G minor RV 439 La NotteVIVALDI Aria ‘Vedrò con mio diletto’ from Il GiustinoHASSE Concerto for Flute in B minor HASSE Alta Nubes Illustrata Motet for soprano, strings and continuo

ARTISTS// Celeste Lazarenko Soprano soloist// Melissa Farrow Flute soloist// Australian Haydn Ensemble Skye McIntosh Violin Matthew Greco Violin Karina Schmitz Viola Anton Baba Cello Bonita Williams Bass Simon Martyn-Ellis Theorbo Anthony Abouhamad Organ

* Celeste Lazarenko appears by arrangement with Opera Australia

* Melissa Farrow appears courtesy of Australian Brandenburg Orchestra

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ARTISTIC DIRECTOR’S MESSAGE

It is my great pleasure to launch our new digital series with this beautiful and creative

concert film, Sacro Amor. This has been a wonderful and refreshing new venture, especially after the difficult year we have all experienced. This initiative opened up many new possibilities for us and we have had a great time preparing it. One of the special things about this AHE performance is that it can be experienced from anywhere in the world. I really hope you enjoy it!

In this project I wanted to bring you something not only filled with positivity, joy and beautiful music, but also filled with beautiful images. Working with filmmaker Oliver Miller and his team has been very inspiring. Together, we have created something quite unique. It’s a visually lush experience that is fused with the stunning music of Vivaldi and Hasse.

The idea of Sacred Love underpins this Creative Concert Film. It opens with Vivaldi’s Concerto for Strings in F major which leads into the first of two stunning motets sung by soprano soloist, Celeste

Lazarenko. Vivaldi’s motet Sum in medio tempestatum is an extremely virtuosic work capturing the mood of a storm. Celeste then sings Vivaldi’s gorgeous aria, Vedrò con mio diletto from Vivaldi’s opera Il Giustino. She finishes with the Hasse motet, which takes us right up into the clouds, Alta Nubes Illustrata - The illuminated clouds.

Throughout, our wonderful flautist Melissa Farrow personifies the character of a night spirit. With her magic flute, she weaves her silvery sound between the performances of the motets, performing Vivaldi’s concerto La Notte (The Night) and finishing with a silvery Hasse Concerto in B minor.

Sit back and enjoy AHE’s first Creative Concert Film – Sacro Amor.

Skye McIntosh Artistic Director

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The Australian Haydn Ensemble, founded in 2012 by Artistic Director and Principal Violinist Skye McIntosh, has quickly established itself as one of Australia’s leading period-instrument ensembles, specialising in the repertoire of the late baroque and early classical eras. It takes its name from the great Joseph Haydn, a leading composer of the late eighteenth century, when style was transitioning from Baroque to Classical.

Based around a small core of strings and flute, the Ensemble performs in a variety of sizes and combinations, ranging from string or flute quartet or quintet, to a full orchestra. It has developed a flourishing regular series at the Sydney Opera House Utzon Room and in Canberra, where it was Ensemble in Residence at the Australian National University during 2014. It also performs throughout regional NSW and presents education workshops to students of all ages, focusing on imparting eighteenth century historical performance techniques. In January 2019, AHE presented programs at the Peninsula Summer Music Festival and the Organs of the Ballarat Goldfields Festival in Victoria, receiving glowing reviews.

In 2016 the group released its debut ABC Classics recording The Haydn Album which reached number one on the Australian Aria Classical charts. It received rave reviews, one claiming that the Ensemble stood “proudly shoulder to shoulder with the many period instrument ensembles found in Europe.”. In October 2017 AHE released Beethoven Piano Concertos 1 & 3 on the ABC Classics label, showcasing newly-commissioned chamber versions of the works in the style of the eighteenth century, in collaboration with

Aria award winning historical keyboardist Dr Neal Peres Da Costa. Reviewers have been extremely enthusiastic: “This recording is remarkable not only for the pianist’s wonderfully free and fluent playing, but also for the excellent performance of the Ensemble.”

The Ensemble has presented a host of unique chamber music and orchestral programs, working with a range of world-class musicians such as Neal Peres Da Costa, Erin Helyard, Catherine Mackintosh (UK), Marc Destrubé (Canada), Melvyn Tan (UK) and Simon Martyn-Ellis (USA) as well as singers Sara Macliver (Australia), Stephanie True (Canada), Simon Lobelson (Australia) and David Greco (Australia). It is particularly interested in presenting unusual programs of eighteenth century chamber versions of larger orchestral symphonic and concerto works by Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven, as well as bringing to a wider audience some of the lesser-known contemporaries of these composers, such as Abel, Albrechtsberger, C.P.E. Bach, J.C. Bach, David, Graun, Hoffmeister, and Vanhal.

Members of the Australian Haydn Ensemble bring a wealth of expertise from first-class period and modern ensembles and orchestras around the world, such as the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra, Australian Chamber Orchestra, Orchestra of the Antipodes, Concerto Köln, English Baroque Soloists, English Chamber Orchestra, Irish Chamber Orchestra, Julliard 415, Les Talens Lyrique, New Dutch Academy and Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment.

THE ENSEMBLE

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ABOUT THE MUSIC

Antonio Lucio VIVALDI (1678–1741)

Concerto for Strings in F major RV 136I. AllegroII. AndanteIII. Minuet – Allegro

Even in a work of under five minutes duration, this Concerto for Strings confirms Vivaldi’s place in history as one of the most significant composers. The counterpoint in the music bursts forth from the opening seconds, and is an example of the sort of technical and rhythmic brilliance that made such an impact on J. S. Bach. Yet Vivaldi’s musical influence runs even deeper. While the Mannheim-school composers followed by Haydn and Mozart are credited with forging the Classical-era symphony, it is easy to forget that the seeds were already being sown here in the Baroque. Among the hundreds upon hundreds of works that flowed from Vivaldi’s rich imagination, exquisitely-crafted instrumental concertos such as these introduce thematic contrast, hint at development sections, and contain

a tutti spirit that presages the larger forms and orchestras still to come.

Listen for:• The activity in the lower strings

and how they electrify the upper voices.

• The dialogue of bass line walking with the wide-angled steps of the violin.

• How the sudden soft dynamics are synchronised with register changes to alter the ensemble colour.

Sum in medio tempestatum Motet for soprano, strings and continuo RV 632 

I. Allegro non molto (Aria): Sum in medio tempestatumII. Recitativo: Quid ergo faciam, infelix animaIII. Largo (Aria): Semper maesta, sconsolataIV. Allegro: Alleluia(Translation at the end of the Notes)

Vivaldi is remembered today as the composer of concertos that provide

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soloists with the opportunity to display their brilliant virtuosity. Perhaps less well known are his sacred compositions, which include the motet – a self-contained musical interlude for the Mass or Vespers. After 1713, when Vivaldi replaced harpsichordist Francesco Gasparini as composer of sacred music at the conservatory of the Pieta in Venice, the composer’s output in this style greatly increased. Like his concertos, many of Vivaldi’s sacred compositions at the Pieta were intended for the institution’s students – poor orphan girls. It is likely, then, that he composed the motet Sum in medio tempestatum for one of the Pieta’s girls to sing. Major cities in the Italian peninsula (such as Naples, Rome and Venice) had conservatories. Like conservatories today, these institutions provided their pupils with an education in music. Their intention was ‘to conserve’ the integrity of their pupils, usually illegitimate orphans, by providing them with a practical trade that would ensure their future employment. This motet, from the 1730s and scored for soprano, strings and basso continuo, is believed to be one of the last motets that Vivaldi composed. The message of the opening aria is reinforced in the instrumental writing, expounding that life at times resembles a boat being tossed

around in rough seas. In keeping with religious lessons of the day, the storm subsides during a brief bridging recitative pledging that daily distractions and temptations be replaced with devotion to Christ. In the aria that follows, the ensuing peace and satisfaction of the new path gently unfolds, before being buoyantly celebrated in the final customary Alleluia.

Listen for:• The ascending surges of the

strings painting the scene of roiling waters punctuated by cracks of lightning illuminating the waves.

• How Vivaldi translates the rhythms of the text into simple but profound melodic shapes.

• The chorale-like writing and overlapping harmonies to evoke cavernous cathedral acoustics.

• How the ensemble adds to the virtuosity of the singer’s phrases by largely holding back with contrapuntal gestures to instead add reinforcement in the sections between vocal entries.

Concerto for Flute Op. 10 No. 2 in G minor RV 439 La notteI. LargoII. Presto (Fantasmi)III. LargoIV. PrestoV. Largo (Il sonno)VI. Allegro

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The six concertos that make up the Opus 10 (published in 1728) were written to be played on the newer traverso (transverse flute) that was rapidly gaining popularity amongst composers and listeners alike. The second concerto of this set, a revised setting for larger accompaniment than the chamber version from 1710, has the nickname La notte (The Night) and represents images of the night. Describing these images are Vivaldi’s subtitles to the second and fifth movements of the concerto, respectively titled Fantasmi (ghosts) and Il sonno (sleep). His deft use of simple compositional devices clearly represents these subjects. The presto second movement, for example, conjures up the bedlam of darting ghosts with rushing upward scales in both the flute and the string parts. Long, held notes in the fifth movement lull the listener to sleep before the concerto closes with its allegro finale.

Programmatic music of this type was common throughout the eighteenth century; Vivaldi’s Four Seasons and his concerto Tempesta di mare are other examples by the composer himself. This genre of instrumental composition was not limited to Italy. Telemann, for example, used historical fables (the story of Don Quixote) and current events (the collapse of the Paris stock exchange)

as subjects for his orchestral suites. Later in the century, Haydn composed three symphonies – Le matin, Le midi and Le soir – that each represent a different time of the day. In addition to conjuring up images of the real and fantastical, such compositions attempted to impose human order and reason on what could be chaotic events. This eighteenth-century ethos stands in contrast to the later generations of romantic artists who sought to represent ‘rawer’ images of nature in their works.

Listen for:• How the sustained flute trills

hold and intensify our attention, like an unfinished thought.

• The soloist joining the ensemble texture but also nipping in and out of focus, and how this contrasts with the Alleluia from the motet.

• The sparsity of tools required to construct a tender melody.

• The continuo team as forerunner to the modern-day rhythm section.

• How Vivaldi slowly builds up the harmonies at the beginning, then magically delays the final chord beneath the held flute tone.

• The overall energy provided by rhythms, counterpoint and dialogue in perfect balance.

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Aria Vedrò con mio diletto from Il Giustino RV 717(Translation at the end of the Notes)

The aria Vedrò con mio diletto comes from the opera Il Giustini, composed by Vivaldi for the 1724 Rome Carnevale. Implicit in the name of the festival itself, Carnevale celebrates the pleasures of the flesh, allowing the populace a time of unbridled delight before Lent – the solemn season of abstinence. The performance of Vivaldi’s opera, Il Giustino, was part of the festival’s celebrations. This opera follows the story of Giustino who under the protection of the goddess Fortuna becomes leader of the Byzantine Army and eventually emperor of Rome. On the eve of his battle with the Scythians, the Byzantine emperor Anastasio contemplates the relief awaiting him once he is again reunited with his beloved. Anastasio’s longing is the topic of the aria Vedrò (the text and its translation are given below).

Ever the resourceful composer, Vivaldi employs simple compositional devices to express Anastasio’s unresolved longing and pining. Underpinning the composition is a short bass line that repeats throughout the aria, known as a ground. In this aria, the ground bass descends chromatically, with the violins playing discordant

tones above it. Seventeenth and eighteenth- century composers frequently used this type of ground bass in arias to express lamenting. Well-known examples include “Dido’s lament” from Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas and the “Crucifixus” from Bach’s B Minor Mass. In Vivaldi’s Vedrò, the repetitive and simple nature of the ground invites listeners to contemplate and emotionally respond to Anastasio’s affected state.

Listen for:• Vivaldi’s trademark pulsing

accompaniment is apparent here, but notice how this rhythmic device takes on a markedly different flavour in the context of the following text:

Johann Adolph HASSE (c. 1699–1783)Like Telemann, Handel and Haydn, Hasse was a native German speaker who was renowned as a great com-poser throughout Europe. His career took him to Naples, Dresden, Vienna and Venice and his music was per-formed in courts and opera houses from Berlin to Rome. Hasse was regarded as the supreme opera com-poser of his day but like many other famous eighteenth-century compos-ers he eventually faded into obscuri-ty. Today he is undergoing something of a renaissance, and at least one of

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his operas has been performed in recent years in Australia.

Whatever the reasons for the decline in his popularity, it is not on account of the quality of his compositions. His music was equally well received by the flute-playing monarch Frederick the Great in Berlin as it was by the Neapolitans. In addition to Handel, whom the Venetians called Il caro Sassone (the beloved Saxon), Hasse was one of very few Germans who gained the affection of the Italians. The reason for this may have been Hasse’s ability to cater for the musical tastes of his audiences, a skill he probably developed through his European travels. Having had served the courts of Dresden and Naples, Hasse has what could be described as a cosmopolitan musical palette.

Concerto for Flute in B minorI. Allegro ma non troppoII. AdagioIII. AllegroHasse’s Concerto for Flute in B minor demonstrates his mastery in composing instrumental music. It was probably inspired by the great French composer and flautist Quantz and was written in the period when Hasse was Kappellmeister to the Dresden Court. Based on Vival-di’s model, the concerto alternates between tutti and solo sections. In the outer movements, the solos

contain dazzling virtuoso passages that could only be properly executed by a master flautist. Like Vivaldi’s later concertos, these solo passages are lightly accompanied with just two violins. The sparser texture further distinguishes the flute as a soloist from the rest of the ensemble. More intimate than the faster movements, the adagio is replete with sustained tones and pulsating repeated notes. Here, Hasse treats the flute as he would the voice in a solo aria, and while it is often accompanied by the whole ensemble, the adagio main-tains a sense of buoyancy and grace thanks to the composer’s superb melodic writing.

Listen for:• How integrated the flute is – is

it more a democratic ensemble work than flute showpiece?

Alta nubes illustrata Motet for soprano, strings and continuoI. Aria: Alta nubes illustrataII. Recitativo: Difulgite, o funestesIII. Aria: Caelisti incendi amorisIV. Aria: Alleluia(Translation at the end of the Notes)

The motet Alta nubes (Great cloud) also illustrates Hasse’s brilliant adaption of the Italian style of his day. His mastery of this style is in no small part due to his seven-year residence in the city of Naples, one of Europe’s most important musical

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centres in the eighteenth century. From the city’s three conservatories would come Europe’s foremost opera composers including Nicola Porpora, a teacher of Joseph Haydn. Two teaching methods dominated the Neapolitan conservatories, one by Leonardo Leo and the other by Francesco Durante. Leo was renowned as a refined opera composer whereas Durante was known for his skill in writing church music. While musicians considered these two styles as distinct from one another, there was a blurring of the boundaries between opera and church music in the eighteenth century.

This is certainly the case in Alta nubes, which has all the bombastic flair of an opera embedded in its arias and recitative. The motet describes the blazing redness of the sky, which is set into contrast with sinful shadows; a metaphor used to distinguish the guiding light of God with the wayward darkness of Satan. Because it requires great technical mastery on the part of the soloist, it may come as a surprise that Hasse composed this motet for orphaned girls to perform in one of Venice’s ospedale. These orphans must have possessed great musical skill considering the coloratura style of Hasse’s arias, which pose challenges to soloists today at the height of their technical prowess.

Listen for:• Taking Vivaldi’s religious

messaging as an example, does the music of Hasse’s motet suggest a similar darkness to light journey?

Notes by Dr Anthony Abouhamad

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Translations of Motets Sum in medio tempestatum Motet for soprano, strings and continuo RV 632 Sum in medio tempestatum quasi navis agitata, conturbata, inter horridas procellas. Hinc horrores, hinc terrores, fremunt venti, nescio portum nec amicas cerno stellas.

I am in the midst of stormy weather, like a ship which is tossed about, rocked amidst terrible storms. Horrors from this side, terrors from that, the winds rant, I know of no harbour and I cannot see the friendly stars.

Quid ergo faciam, infelix anima? Ubi sunt bona mea, ubi laetitiae? Ubi mundi deliciae? Fallaces honores, ite, procul volate; vos sperno, vos non curo, Jesum solum amabo, et mala cordis mei semper plorabo.

What shall I do, unhappy soul that I am? Where is my good fortune, my happiness? Where are the delights of the world? Deceptive honours, go, fly far away; I shun you, I care not for you, I shall love Jesus only, and I shall weep constantly at the woes of my heart.

Semper maesta, sconsolata, suspirando, lacrimando, sum contenta, sum beata. Iam serenae rident stellae, iam non turbant me procellae: vado ad portum fortunata.

Constantly gloomy, dejected, sighing and weeping, I now am content, I am blessed. Now the calming stars smile, now storms do not rock me: I shall hasten, fortunate, to the harbour.

Alleluia Alleluia

Aria Vedrò con mio diletto from Il Giustino RV 717Vedrò con mio diletto With what delight will I seel’alma dell’alma mia, the soul of my soul,il cor del mio core the heart of my heartpien di contento. Filled with happiness.

E se dal caro oggetto And if from my dear one lungi convien che sia I must be parted,sospirerò penando I will sigh and sufferogni momento. every moment.

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Translations of Motets Sum in medio tempestatum Motet for soprano, strings and continuo RV 632 Sum in medio tempestatum quasi navis agitata, conturbata, inter horridas procellas. Hinc horrores, hinc terrores, fremunt venti, nescio portum nec amicas cerno stellas.

I am in the midst of stormy weather, like a ship which is tossed about, rocked amidst terrible storms. Horrors from this side, terrors from that, the winds rant, I know of no harbour and I cannot see the friendly stars.

Quid ergo faciam, infelix anima? Ubi sunt bona mea, ubi laetitiae? Ubi mundi deliciae? Fallaces honores, ite, procul volate; vos sperno, vos non curo, Jesum solum amabo, et mala cordis mei semper plorabo.

What shall I do, unhappy soul that I am? Where is my good fortune, my happiness? Where are the delights of the world? Deceptive honours, go, fly far away; I shun you, I care not for you, I shall love Jesus only, and I shall weep constantly at the woes of my heart.

Semper maesta, sconsolata, suspirando, lacrimando, sum contenta, sum beata. Iam serenae rident stellae, iam non turbant me procellae: vado ad portum fortunata.

Constantly gloomy, dejected, sighing and weeping, I now am content, I am blessed. Now the calming stars smile, now storms do not rock me: I shall hasten, fortunate, to the harbour.

Alleluia Alleluia

Aria Vedrò con mio diletto from Il Giustino RV 717Vedrò con mio diletto With what delight will I seel’alma dell’alma mia, the soul of my soul,il cor del mio core the heart of my heartpien di contento. Filled with happiness.

E se dal caro oggetto And if from my dear one lungi convien che sia I must be parted,sospirerò penando I will sigh and sufferogni momento. every moment.

Alta nubes illustrata. Motet for soprano, strings and continuo

1. AriaAlta nubes illustrata solis rutilo fulgore, suo candore nitescit, rubescit. Aurae placidae laetantur. Gratiae lumine exornata fulget anima nitendo. Ipsi coeli amplius gaudendo suum candorem admirantur.

2. Recitativo Diffulgite, o funeste vos peccatorum umbrae et vos terreni lethales pravi affectus corde statim recedite. Inflammatum pectus sublimi ardore solum gau-det caelesi aeterno amore. Divinae gratiae lumen tu mentem quaeso illus-tra. O quam beata anima fortunata quae Deo plene conjuncta et jam in terris sentit delicias caeli. Ah Deus, haec cogitando deficio, rapta sum gaudeo penando.

3. AriaCoelesti incendio amoris accensa in flamma ar-dori cado exsanguis. Tu me restaura, o Deus, tu me solare. Sunt carae dulces penae jucundo affectu ple-nae. Amando, o purum cor, gaude, laetare. 4. Alleluia.

1. AriaIlluminated by the golden glow of the sun, the cloud on high radiates in splendour, reddens. The placid skies rejoice. Adorned by the light of grace, the soul shines in glory. The heavens themselves, filled with joy, admire its splendour.

2. RecitativeDisperse, O ye dark shadows of sins; and ye death-bringing worldly vices recede now from the heart.

The soul, kindled by a sublime fire, rejoices alone in the heavenly love of eternity. Light of divine grace, I seek thee: enlighten my spirit. How blessed is the fortunate soul which is con-joined fully with God and experiences the de-lights of heaven already on earth. O God, I fall silent in thought, I am enraptured, and rejoice in pain.

3. AriaKindled by the love of heaven, burning with an ardent flame, I fall to the ground exhausted. You, O God, restore me, comfort me. These pains are dear and sweet, filled with de-lightful pleasure. In love, O pure heart, rejoice, be glad! 4. Alleluia.

LIVE SERIES TWOBEETHOVEN’S

PASTORALFALL IN LOVE WITH THE GREATS ALL OVER AGAIN

BEETHOVEN’S PASTORAL SYMPHONY AND MOZART’S HAFFNER SERENADE ARRANGED FOR A SEPTET WITH FLUTE, STRING QUINTET AND DOUBLE BASS.

PROGRAM

BOCCHERINI String Sextet in F minor Op. 23 No. 4 G. 457

MOZART Serenade in D major Haffner Serenade K. 250 Selections (arr. Masi c. 1810)

BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 6 in F major Op. 68 Pastoral (arr. Watts c. 1810)

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