Handel and Haydn Society to Celebrate The Magic of Vivaldi

[Boston, MA – September 30, 2020] Continuing to deliver the historically informed performances audiences have come to expect from H H even during this pandemic, the Handel and Haydn Society will celebrate the magic of Antonio Vivaldi with a streaming concert featuring three works from the Italian Baroque composer.

The Magic of Vivaldi will be available free, with a suggested donation of $10, through the Handel and Haydn Society website at handelandhaydn.org/streaming-concerts/. The concert will stream for registered listeners on Tuesday, October 13, 2020 at 3:00 PM ET, and will be available for one month. H H season subscribers and donors over $100 will receive additional content and early access to the performance two days before the general public.

The streaming performance will begin with Vivaldi’s operatic Cantata, “Lungi dal vago volto,” RV 680. The concert will continue with Vivaldi’s sparkling Sonata for violoncello and basso continuo No. 4 in B-flat Major, RV 45 and conclude with the energetic Trio Sonata in D Minor, La Folia, RV 63, one of Vivaldi’s earliest known and most dramatic works. 

“This will be an intimate concert featuring a trio of beautiful pieces by Vivaldi, performed on the period instruments for which they were written,” said Handel and Haydn Society President and CEO David Snead. “These gems of Italian Baroque fully showcase the consummate instrumental technique for which Vivaldi was known. And they will be brought alive with H H’s trademark virtuosic and passionate style.”

The concert will showcase four of H H’s unrivaled principal players. H H instrumentalists Aisslinn Nosky, violin; Susanna Ogata, violin; Guy Fishman, cello; and Ian Watson, harpsichord; will lead the performance. They will be joined by soprano Amanda Forsythe, who will sing “Lungi dal vago volto.” Highly regarded as one of the best Baroque sopranos on the scene today, Forsythe has sung with orchestras and ensembles in both the United States and Europe. She most recently performed with H H during the 2017-2018 season, in the role of Iole in Handel's Hercules.

The Magic of Vivaldi will begin streaming online Tuesday, October 13, 2020. Anyone wishing to view the concert is asked to register now through the Handel and Haydn Society website at handelandhaydn.org/streaming-concerts/.

The Handel and Haydn Society’s 2020–21 Season Performances include:

The Magic of Bach                             September 29, 2020                         Streaming online

The Magic of Vivaldi                          October 13, 2020                              Streaming online

Glories of the Baroque                      October 27, 2020                              Streaming online

Every Voice                                        November 8, 2020                            Streaming online

The Magic of Handel                         November 24, 2020                          Streaming online

Bach Christmas                                  December 17 20, 2020                  St. Cecilia Parish

Haydn Mozart                                January 22 24, 2021                       Symphony Hall

Mozart Great Mass                           February 5 7, 2021                         Symphony Hall

Beethoven Symphony No. 7             March 5 7, 2021                             Symphony Hall

Handel Israel in Egypt                       March 19 21, 2021                         Symphony Hall Sanders Theatre

Haydn The Creation                          April 30 May 2, 2021                      Symphony Hall

A broad offering of H H digital content can be found on the Watch Listen page of its website.

About the Handel and Haydn Society

Boston’s Handel and Haydn Society is dedicated to performing Baroque and Classical music with a freshness, a vitality, and a creativity that inspires all ages. H H has been captivating audiences for 206 consecutive seasons (the most of any performing arts organization in the United States). Today, H H’s Orchestra and Chorus delight more than 50,000 listeners annually with a nine-week subscription series at Boston Symphony Hall and other leading venues. Through the Karen S. and George D. Levy Education Program, H H supports seven youth choirs of singers in grades 2-12 and provides thousands of complimentary tickets to students and communities throughout Boston, ensuring the joy of music is accessible to all. H H’s numerous free community concerts include an annual commemoration of the original 1863 Emancipation Proclamation concert on December 31. The artistic director of the Handel and Haydn Society is Harry Christophers. Under Christophers’s leadership, H H has released 12 CDs on the Coro label and has toured nationally and internationally. In all these ways, H H fulfills its mission to inspire the intellect, touch the heart, elevate the soul, and connect us with our shared humanity through transformative experiences with Baroque and Classical music.

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