Early Music Vancouver (EMV) welcomes back acclaimed harpsichordist and conductor Alexander Weimann as guest musical director for its presentation of George Frideric Handel's Theodora tonight, February 14, 2015, 7:30pm at the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts at UBC. In addition to being one of the world's most sought-after ensemble directors, soloists, and chamber music partners, Weimann also serves as conductor of the Pacific Baroque Orchestra in Vancouver, and as music director of Les Voix Baroques, Le Nouvel Opéra, and Tempo Rubato. He has led many of EMV's most successful productions over the last 10 years.
With a compelling English libretto that is a touching parable of spiritual resistance to tyranny and religious toleration, the presentation features visiting artists
Matthew Brook, one of Britain's leading and most experienced bass baritones; American Zachary Wilder, described as a remarkably clear, flexible lyric tenor with a radiant tone; and American Lawrence Zazzo, considered to be one of the most outstanding countertenors of his generation.
Rounding out the all-star cast of soloists are local favourites soprano Nathalie Paulin, who hails from New Brunswick and has graced stages around the world; and Hungarian-Canadian mezzo-soprano Krisztina Szabó, who Vancouver audiences will remember as Donna Elvira in last season's production of Don Giovanni by Vancouver Opera. One of Handel's largest-scale oratorios for soloists, choir and orchestra, this production also combines the talents of the Vancouver Cantata Singers along with 28 members of the Pacific Baroque Orchestra.
Though most Handel aficionados would identify the Messiah as the composer's best-known work, the great master did not consider it his personal best. Biographia Dramatica, the centuries-old equivalent of Who's Who, reports that when asked if he considered the 'Hallelujah Chorus' from Messiah to be his masterpiece, Handel replied, "No. I think the chorus, 'He saw the lovely youth,' at the end of the second part in Theodora far beyond it.'" Early Music Vancouver is confident that local audiences will find this tale of love and sacrifice in times of oppression as relevant today as it was for its prescient composer 266 years ago.
This Theodora production, like EMV's recent sold-out December 2014 production of J.S. Bach's Christmas Oratorio, will tour to Seattle and Victoria in a continuation of the Northwest Baroque Masterworks Project, a new and expanding aspect of EMV's operations involving regional artists and the cooperation of multiple presenters in the Cascadian region.
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