Caffeinated Virtuosity – February 10 at 3 p.m. (Sunday)
OVERTURE: Pre-concert talk with Bacchanalia Baroque at 2:30 p.m.
Due to the public’s strong desire for 18th
century masterpieces performed on period instruments, MOSA welcomes back early music specialist Bacchanalia Baroque. Veterans
of Midtown Concerts, Boston Early Music Festival, and Christ Chapel Concerts at Riverside Church, the group presents a combination
of instrumental and vocal works from the Baroque, including two sinful Coffee Cantatas – J.S. Bach’s
ode to 18th century coffee addiction and a French version of the same idea by Nicolas Bernier – plus selections from
Johann Mattheson’s Der Brauchbare Virtuoso.
Bacchanalia Baroque’s flutist Laura Thompson
reflected on the theme of control in the group’s program: “Bach took a break from sacred writing to celebrate
modern life, and gave up trying to control his daughter's new vice, the drinking of coffee. Then there is Johann Mattheson,
one of Handel’s best friends, who was also an opera impresario and a music theorist. He patterned his music after the
rhetorical models of ancient Greece, in an effort to persuade his audience of his arguments, and even control their moods.”
Complimentary
reception with the performers following the concert.
