Kožená & Marcon & La Cetra
An exploration tracing the origins of 17th century Italian opera through to masterpieces by Antonio Vivaldi, along with the festival debut of top-flight period-instrument ensemble La Cetra Barockorchester Basel
Programme
- Marco Uccellini: Aria quinta sopra La Bergamasca op. 3
- Claudio Monteverdi: “Disprezzata regina”, Ottavia’s scene from the opera L’incoronazione di Poppea
- Tarquinio Merula: Sonata XXIV, Ballo detto Pollicio op. 12
- Tarquinio Merula: Folle è ben si crede
- Claudio Monteverdi: Scherzi musicali: II. Quel sguardo sdegnosetto
- Dario Castello: Sonata XV a quattro z 2. knihy Sonate concertate in stil moderno
- Claudio Monteverdi: “Addio Roma, addio patria, amici addio”, Ottavia’s scene from the opera L’incoronazione di Poppea
- Biagio Marini: Passacalio à 4
- Claudio Monteverdi: Sì dolce è'l tormento
- Antonio Vivaldi: Concerto for Strings in C major, RV 114
- Antonio Vivaldi: “Cara sorte di chi nata”, Rustena’s aria from the opera La verità in cimento RV 739
- Antonio Vivaldi: “Gelido in ogni vena”, Farnace’s aria from the opera Farnace RV 711
- Antonio Vivaldi: Koncert pro smyčce g moll RV 156
- Antonio Vivaldi: “Armatae face et anguibus” from the oratorio Juditha triumphans RV 644
Performers
- Magdalena Kožená – mezzo-soprano
- La Cetra Barockorchester Basel
- Andrea Marcon – artistic director
The concert given by Magdalena Kožená together with one of the world’s most highly respected Baroque orchestras – the Swiss ensemble La Cetra – offers a wonderful programme of Italian music of the 17th and 18th centuries. Through their works Monteverdi (1567–1643), Merula (1595–1665), Uccellini (1603–1680), Castello (1602–1631), Marini (1594–1663) and Vivaldi (1678–1741) will take you back to the very beginnings of the musical Baroque, and from there they will guide you through one hundred and twenty years of musical development, culminating in the masterpieces of the Baroque era. You will hear music which was played in Cremona, Modena, Parma, Brescia and, above all, in Venice, the city of Monteverdi, Castello and Antonio Vivaldi.
In the best hands
Conductor and harpsichordist Andrea Marcon is unquestionably one of the world’s greatest authorities on Italian Baroque music. This is not the first time he has collaborated with Magdalena Kožená in this regard: In 2009 they recorded a successful Vivaldi album for Deutsche Grammophon, and in 2016 they released a joint recording for the same label entitled Monteverdi, for which on this occasion they were partnered by the ensemble La Cetra. The orchestra, named after one of Vivaldi’s sets of violin concertos, is regularly invited not only to such meccas of early music as the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris, but also to other prestigious European venues: Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Vienna’s Konzerthaus, the Philharmonie de Paris or Festspielhaus Baden-Baden. The orchestra – like its leader Andrea Marcon – is appearing at the Prague Spring in its festival debut.
