Music Before 1800: Season Continues with Juilliard415 & Jonathan Cohen, 1/14

NYC's longest-running early music series Music Before 1800 continues its 43rd season on Sunday, January 14 at 4PM at Corpus Christi Church with Juilliard415, the school's "superb period-instrument ensemble" (New York Times), and charismatic harpsichordist and conductor Jonathan Cohen. The program explores the Baroque fascination with the connected realms of madness and enchantment.

Perhaps because early modern culture was so highly hierarchical, 17th- and 18th-century composers found these eruptions of disorder (when things weren't as they seemed) as fertile ground for musical invention. This program explores how some very different composers used these themes to create strange and wonderful works to delight and astonish their listeners. With Cohen, the ensemble will highlight the diabolical in Boccherini's Sinfonia in D Minor, "La Casa del Diavolo," the madness in Telemann's Ouverture, "Burlesque de Quixotte," and the enchantment in excerpts from Purcell's The Fairy Queen. The extraordinary students of Juilliard415 offer yet more madness with pieces by Durante and Corelli.

The second half of MB1800's season includes intimate performances at The Kosciuszko Foundation from harpsichordist Ignacio Prego, LeStrange Viols, and House of Time. Stile Antico returns to the series on April 8, and the Choir of Corpus Christi Church under James Bassi closes out the season on April 22.

JUILLIARD415 & Jonathan Cohen
Madness & Enchantment
Sunday, January 14, 4PM
Corpus Christi Church
529 West 121st Street
Tickets: $10-50
212-666-9266 / www.mb1800.org
Jonathan Cohen (photo: Marco Borggreve)

MB1800, a NYC institution, is the city's longest-running series devoted exclusively to early music. Since the series' inception, concerts have been presented at Corpus Christi Church in Morningside Heights, giving audiences a uniquely satisfying experience. The 2017-18 season places an emphasis on choral music (especially Renaissance), welcoming back esteemed vocal ensembles Stile Antico, Blue Heron, and Cappella Pratensis. Series debuts will be made by exciting NYC ensembles LeStrange Viols and House of Time.

Louise Basbas
Louise Basbas is the founder and director of the series. The New Yorker praised MB1800, calling it "the essential series." Time Out New York remarked: "The resonant acoustics of Corpus Christi Church will deliver you into your own personal solitude.... Few other venues can claim this fusion of strong programming and quality auditory surroundings."

Music Before 1800 is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.