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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, NOVEMBER 2005
Lyra Baroque Orchestra's second concert in its 2005-06 season.
The Lyra Baroque Orchestra presents an all-Boccherini program Friday evening November 18th in St. Paul, and Saturday evening November 19th in Rochester. With Artistic Director Jacques Ogg at the harpsichord and joined by soprano Raffaella Milanesi, Lyra will celebrate Boccherini's 200th anniversary with a concert full of European warmth. The program includes:
Harpsichord concerto in E flat-major
Symphony in C-major op.12/3
3 arias from "La Clementina"
Symphony D-minor ("La Casa del Diavolo")
Scene from "Ines de Castro"
Though Boccherini is best known for his chamber music, this program focuses on his orchestral and vocal works. Born and trained in Italy, Boccherini spent over half his life in Madrid, writing music for noble households. Unlike many composers who worked outside their native lands, he freely embraced the culture of his adopted country and depicted it in his music. Instead of writing an Italian opera like everyone else, he wrote a Spanish zarzuela; his instrumental music often vividly evokes the scenes and sounds of Madrid.
Lyra Artistic Director Jacques Ogg is a performer on both harpsichord and fortepiano. He teaches at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague, conducts, and records extensively as a solo artist or with artists who are his friends and colleagues. He is a member of The Orchestra of the 18th Century and performs regularly with Concerto Palatino. Mr. Ogg is frequently invited for master classes in Juiz de Fora (Brazil), Buenos Aires, Mateus (Portugal), and Salamanca (Spain) as well as in Cracow (Poland), Prague, and Budapest. He has been Lyra's Artistic Director for the last three seasons.
Born in Rome, soprano Raffaella Milanesi graduated in singing from the Conservatory of Santa Cecilia. She has performed operatically throughout Italy and Europe as Violetta in La Traviata, Musetta in La Boheme, Norina in Don Pasquale, and the title role in Antigone, to mention a very few of her roles. She tours extensively as a soloist, and performed in Spain in 2003 with Lyra — resulting in Lyra's debut CD on the Glossa label, which will be available in the United States early in 2006.
As a period instrument orchestra, Lyra is distinguished from other orchestras by both the way musicians play and the instruments they use. Although other orchestras perform Baroque music; emulating historically informed performance practices, such as playing with a distinctive, highly rhythmic, and vocally inspired style; they use modern instruments. In contrast, Lyra's string players perform on strings made from sheep gut rather than metal and use Baroque style bows which allow for an entirely different mode of shaping musical phrases. Wind players perform on thin-walled wooden flutes and oboes and the trumpets used are valveless. The resulting sound of such an ensemble is lighter and brighter than that which modern instruments produce. Lyra performs in spaces that allow their audiences to participate in an intimate and unique musical event.
Concert Dates & Times
Friday, November 18, 2005, 8:00 PM, Sundin Hall, St. Paul
Saturday, November 19, 2005, 7:30 PM, Zumbro Lutheran Church, Rochester
Tickets $10 - $23
Order tickets through TicketWorks by phone: (612) 343-3390 or on the web: www.ticketworks.com. Tickets may also be purchased at the door.
Please note that the earlier edition of this release referenced Ms. Milanesi's 2003 performances with Lyra; these performances actually featured another soprano — Rachel Andueza.
The information is correct regarding Lyra's debut CD on the Glossa label, which will be available in the United States early in 2006.
Sincerely, Mark Kausch
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