The Australian Haydn Ensemble will return to The Art House this April with matinee performance of their new program Heavenly Sopranos Jewels of the Baroque.
Set to deliver a Sunday afternoon concerto of familiar and neglected masterworks, patrons who caught The Ensemble’s previous concert Die Stille Nacht, will be pleased to know their iconic period instruments will once again be in full effect; but in a first for The Ensemble (at The Art House), their exquisite performance will be enhanced by the vocal stylings ofCeleste Lazarenko and Helen Sherman.
Both celebrated artists, Lazarenko (soprano) and Sherman (mezzo-soprano) will elevate the performance, particularly Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater, whose suspensions and interplay of soprano and mezzo, has been described as ‘the most perfect and touching duet to come from the pen of any composer.’ The entire 40-minute mini-oratorio, while a product of the Baroque (Bach himself paid it homage) is written in the Italian ‘galant’ style that had its final flowering in Haydn and Mozart, so this is a rare opportunity to hear it as the composer imagined it.
Other items in the program include selections from Hasse’s Oratorio Sanctus Petrus et Sancta Maria Magdelena and Motet Alte Nubes Illustrata, with Hasse considered the most lauded operatic composer of his day.
Die Stille Nacht fans will also be pleased to know The Art House’s sumptuous Afternoon Tea of scones is also returning with Heavenly Sopranos, making this magical matinee seem heaven-sent for fans of classical music, opera and singing.
PROGRAM
PERGOLESI – Stabat Mater
HASSE – Selections from Oratorio Sanctus Petrus et Sancta Maria Magdelena and Motet Alte Nubes Illustrata
About The Artists
Celeste Lazarenko, soprano
Helen Sherman, mezzo soprano
The Australian Haydn Ensemble
The Australian Haydn Ensemble, (AHE) was founded in 2012 and is now in its twelfth year. AHE has quickly established itself as one of Australia’s leading period-instrument groups, specialising in the repertoire of the late Baroque and early Classical eras.
Celeste Lazarenko and Helen Sherman, both hatchlings of the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, have graced halls as illustrious as Wigmore, Royal Albert and Glyndebourne, before returning to Australia to perform award-winning roles and are dear friends of The AHE.
The Art House Presents
Heavenly Sopranos – Jewels of the Baroque
By The Australian Haydn Ensemble
Sunday APR 14 – 2PM
Duration: 1 hour 50 minutes, with interval
Tickets: Adult: $49.00, Concession: $42.00, Encore Member: $39.00,
Under 30: $35.00, Child Under 12: $25.00
Optional Add On: Afternoon Tea Pre-Order Only: $6.00 (Scones with jam & cream + unlimited percolated tea & coffee)
www.thearthousewyong.com.au | 02 4335 1485