Bringing Music Back to Life . . . After 306 Years

Upper Valley Baroque

Upper Valley Baroque will make history as it opens its second season with concerts on October 29 at 7:00 pm and October 30 at 3:00 pm. For the first time in North America, the long lost and newly discovered Mass in F major by composer Giuseppe Maria Orlandini will be performed.

Artistic Director Filippo Ciabatti and Upper Valley Baroque are excited and honored to be bringing this music back to life after over 300 years. When the orchestra and chorus start playing, it will be the first time the North American public has ever heard this music. It is amazing to think that something 306 years old and completely new will be created . . . in the sanctuary of St. Thomas Episcopal Church in Hanover, New Hampshire.

Of course there’s a back story. Orlandini was a famous composer and musician during the first half of the 18th century in Florence, on a par with perhaps the better-known Antonio Vivaldi. He was recognized for his operas and liturgical pieces. Some of those pieces disappeared over time; his Mass in F major was recently discovered in an archives in Prague.

Roll forward to 2016 in Florence. Under the auspices of the University of Florence, the Musica Tuscana project was established to research and rediscover 17th and 18th century musical repertoire. The PhD student and scholar, Umberto Cerini, discovered Orlandini's Mass in F major, and undertook the major task of deciphering, editing, interpreting, and rendering the music into modern notation. The first performance of this Mass in over 300 years took place in Florence shortly before the Covid pandemic. 

Cerini is both a childhood friend and professional colleague of UV Baroque’s Artistic Director, Filippo Ciabatti. After many conversations, the two decided that “Upper Valley Baroque would be in a position to do justice to this rediscovered masterpiece and its North American premiere.”

The Upper Valley Baroque Chamber Choir and Orchestra consists of professional musicians from New Hampshire, Vermont, Boston, and New York. It was founded in 2021, and this concert will be the first of three during its second season, “A Journey through Italian Baroque.” Two additional concerts are scheduled for 2022-2023.

- January 28 and 29, 2023 at First Congregational Church in Lebanon, Upper Valley Baroque’s chamber orchestra will offer a concert of Italian Baroque Concerti, featuring accomplished soloists Susanna Ogata on violin, David Dickey on Oboe, and Melanie Williams on Flute.

- April 29 and 30, 2023 Upper Valley Baroque will perform the magnificent Vespro della Beata Vergine of 1610 (Vespers) by Claudio Monteverdi. This remarkable choral work bridges the late Renaissance and Baroque music. It is one of the most beautiful, revolutionary, and important pieces of music in the Western tradition.

For more information, contact Jo Shute (203-984-3126), email: baroqueuv@gmail.com, Click here to visit the website for tickets.

(Quoted text via UVB press release. Photo, top, of Filippo Ciabatti by Rick Read)

———————————————————

Welcome! You’re reading Artful, a blog about arts and culture in the Upper Valley, and I hope you’ll subscribe and then share this with your friends and on your social media.

And in case you are wondering . . . Susan B. Apel shuttered a lifelong career as a law professor to continue an interest (since kindergarten) in writing. Her freelance business, The Next Word, includes literary and feature writing; her work has appeared in a variety of lit mags and other publications including Art New England, The Woven Tale Press, The Arts Fuse, and Persimmon Tree. She connects with her neighbors through Artful, her blog about arts and culture in the Upper Valley. She’s in love with the written word.