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Concert Program
Program Notes
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El Mundo
Zarzuela y Opera!

Saturday, November 10, 2007
8 PM, Synod Hall

Jennifer Ellis, soprano
Ann Moss, soprano
Jennifer Lane, mezzo soprano
Paul Shipper, bass, guitar & percussion
Zachary Carrettin,violin
Adam LaMotte, violin
John Lutterman, cello
Matthew Dirst, harpsichord
Richard Savino, Director, guitar, theorbo

Concert Program

1. Zarzuela: Salir el amor del mundo (1696) Dorada luciente Y ia que en la selba Qué in porta que airada deidad? Sosieguen, descansen Descanse el Amor Del Amor los arpones Qué orror, qué espanto? Huie, Huie, cobarde! De cuantos yerros forjo; Temores, que ruido es este? Pues bibre la cuerdas Donde vas, cobarde Eso no cobarde! Ay de mi! En el concabe profundo		Sebastian Duron

Intermission

II. Musica para instrumentos Symphonia para empezar Fandango Folia III. Tonos, villancicos, y solos de zarzuelas Xacara de Clarin From Celos aun del aire matin Ay que si, Ay que no! Oygan una xacarilla Tarara yo soy Anton IV. Opera de Chiquitos: San Ignacio excerpts (c.1730)		Domenica Scarlatti (1685-1750) Santiago de Murcia (c. 1685-1732) Andrea Falconiero (1585-1656) Juan Hidalgo (1612-1685) Juan Hidalgo Rafael Antonio Castellanos (18th century) Antonio de Salazar (1650 - c. 1711) D. Zipoli y M. Schmid

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PROGRAM NOTES

Zarzuela y Opera:
Spanish and Latin American dramas of the 17th & 18th centuries.

In this program we will tour many aspects of the cultural melting pot that was early modern Spain. This was a time of dramatic change as the renaissance gave way to the baroque throughout Europe, and old tradition and styles of music took on new forms.

In Spain the secular renaissance vocal form of the villancico carried on from its 13th century origins and became the dominant native Spanish vocal form. A form of poetry, the villancico made use of alternating refrain, the estribillo, with strophes called coplas. Villancicos became a regular addition to stage drama and would be joined in stage dramas by the tono humano, a humanist secular song which had a parallel in the Italian repertory of the time; the monody, a solo secular song accompanied by a basso continuo part.

The defeat of the Spanish Armada to the British and Dutch forces in 1588 put seventeenth century Spain in a precarious position. Spain and its territories were no longer immune from some of the dangers that existed for the rest of the world. Spain's rulers had to tread a fine line between presenting an image of strength at home while dealing with severe blows to its empire. The dichotomy presented by this coexistence of fantasy and reality is nowhere more clearly demonstrated than in the Hapsburg court, ruled by Philip IV and immortalized through the paintings of Velazquez. The image presented is one of serenity and order while the reality is crisis and calamity. Such situations are the basis for great theater and in seventeenth century Madrid, the theater flourished, and the zarzuela was born.

The zarzuela is a dramatic musical genre that is unique to Spanish culture. Originally named after the Philip IV's hunting retreat outside of Madrid, where some of the earliest productions took place, the zarzuela evolved at approximately the same time as Italian opera, and shares a number of characteristics with its musical cousin. Musically the seventeenth century zarzuela consisted of numerous vocal solos, as well as ensembles and choruses accompanied by basso continuo. The instrumental forces were similar to those that one might find in an opera by Peri or Monteverdi, consisting of two or three violins, an occasional cornetto and an elaborate continuo section. What separates zarzuelas from their Italian opera counterparts is that in addition the sung music, they also contain sections of spoken dialogue accompanied by dramatic stage action. In addition, the early Spanish zarzuela also consisted of vocal numbers that retained the villancico form. This contrasts with early Italian opera in which works consisted of no, or very little, recitative as it is known today. Instead, in zarzuela the dramatic action was propelled by a middle ground between speech and song. Eventually certain elements of the developing Italian style crept into the zarzuela.

A musician closely identified with Spanish theater music is Sebastian Duron (1660-1716). Duron left us a wonderful repertory of zarzuelas, operas and tonos humanos. In Dur0n's time the term villancico almost always indicated a sacred or semi-sacred composition. In addition, the Italian monodic style with a basso continuo accompaniment had also become the norm in Spain and most, if not all of Duron’s tonos were composed in this fashion. Duron entered the service of the royal chapel in 1691 and within a few years he became the most important musical figure both inside and outside the court. By 1701 he was appointed maestro of the royal chapel by the new Bourbon dynasty and as a supporter of the Austrian party during the War of Succession, he was condemned to exile in 1706 and went to France where he would die ten years later. A prolific composer, Duron was able to successfully integrate the Spanish and Italian styles into single compositions.

Following the death of Queen María Luisa Gabriela in 1714, King Philip V was remarried to the Italian Isabel Farnese. This precipitated a significant change of culture at the court. Fashions changed dramatically and with the arrival of the castrato Farinelli in 1737, Italian opera became the rage in Madrid. The result was that the zarzuela evolved into a more operatic like work that consisted of recitatives and da capo arias, yet it still retained passages of spoken dialogue accompanied by dramatic stage action. (Note: While there was a decided change to an Italianate style in music of the Royal Court and the Royal Theatre, the more traditional Spanish style continued to be employed throughout the eighteenth century in the public theaters through the genre known as the tonadilla and in the church through the continued use of the villancico.)

This evening's zarzuela, Salir el Amor del Mundo (Love Rules the World) by Sebastian Duron, comes from the earlier repertory and tells the story of Cupid (Amor) and the chaste huntress Diana. In this work Duron began to incorporate Italian recitative in his zarzuleas while retaining the tonos humanos structure of the "arias." In an interpretation fitting of modern sensibilities, I have chosen to replace the sections of extended spoken dialogue with a narrated synopsis.

While the musical cultures of Spain and Italy co-mingled, and the traditions of past and present converged, quite a different cultural connection was being made in the New World. In stark contrast to the English colonies of North America, the Spanish colonies of Central and South America were wellsprings of cultural sophistication. Latin American cathedrals, missions, and courtly life demanded a varied and active musical scene. The indigenous populations were frequently drawn into the arts and participated in their production. The musical result was a style that even in sacred compositions bears the imprint of folk music. The use of multiple guitars, vihuelas, percussion, dance rhythms and the occasional use of native languages demonstrate a close relationship between European and indigenous cultures.

San Ignacio, while not incorporating native languages, was certainly the product of the above described interaction. Although often attributed exclusively to Domenico Zipoli, the work tells the story of an encounter between Saint Ignatius and Saint Francis Xavier. It comes from multiple Jesuit sources (Zipoli, Martin Schmidt and idigineous) in a region that is now part of Paraguay, Argentina and Brazil. Composed in the early 18th century this work exhibits elements of Italian opera (recitative and da capo arias) combined with a folkloric style. It is a wonderful work and it is our pleasure to present this to you this evening.

Richard Savino © 2007

El Mundo is a chamber group that was created by guitarist/lutenist Richard Savino to perform the rich and sensual musical repertory from 16th–19th century Italy, Spain and Latin America. El Mundo has performed for early music and chamber music presenters in Houston, San Diego, Arizona, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Boston, New York, Cleveland, Columbus, Seattle, Vancouver, Victoria, Sedona, and many other locations. Recent recordings by El Mundo include: Venice Before Vivaldi; A Portrait of Giovanni Lengrenzi; Villancicos y Cantadas, 17th & 18th Century Music from Spain and Latin America; and The Essential Giuliani. El Mundo records for Koch International Classics.

Jennifer Ellis (soprano) is emerging as one of the leading interpreters of the Baroque repertoire. She recently made her debut with the Washington Bach Consort singing Bach's Jauchzet Gott and Ascension Oratorio, and performed Vivaldi’s Gloria with The New York Collegium, Andrew Parrott conducting. Her international career includes appearances with American Bach Soloists, The New York Collegium, Portland Baroque Orchestra, Santa Fe Pro Musica, Seattle Baroque Orchestra, Opera Lafayette, El Mundo, Apollo's Fire, Musica Angelica, Magnificat, Ensemble Solamente (Budapest, Hungary), Ensemble Tourbillon (Prague, Czech Republic), and Musica Aeterna (Bratislava, Slovakia). Opera highlights include leading roles in Handel's Acis and Galata, Blow's Venus and Adonis, Pergolesi's La Serva Padrona, Duron's zarzuela Salir el Amor del Mundo, and Purcell's Dido and Aeneas. In addition, Ms. Ellis has sung with the Mark Morris Dance Group and the Charlotte Symphony. Ms. Ellis recorded Villancicos y Cantatas for Koch, the works of Cozzolani (Gramophone editor's pick, August 2002) for Musica Omnia, Carissimi Motets and Cantatas for Hungaroton, and Monteverdi Vespers of 1610 for Electra. She was awarded first prize in the Berkeley Piano Club Voice Competition, finalist in the Early Music America Medieval/Renaissance Competition, first runner up at the 2000 Bethlehem Bach Vocal Competition, and the Adam's Fellowship at the Carmel Bach Festival. Born in San Francisco and a graduate of the University of Michigan and the Guildhall School of Music in London, Jennifer currently lives in Washington, D.C.

Mezzo-soprano Jennifer Lane is an internationally recognized mezzo-soprano known for her striking interpretations of repertoire ranging from the early baroque to today's composers. She has performed with conductors William Christie, Nicholas McGegan, Andrew Parrott, Howard Arman, Marc Minkowski, Helmut Rilling and Robert Shaw. Festivals, opera companies, and concert series appearances include: Tanglewood Festival, Boston Early Music Festival, the Frick Collection, Opera du Caen, Theatre du Champs-Elysees, Opernhaus Halle, Opernhaus Dessau, San Francisco Opera, San Francisco Symphony, National Symphony Orchestra, Utah Opera, Salzburger Bachgesellschaft, Seattle Baroque Orchestra, Jerusalem Symphony, St. Louis Symphony, Orchestra della Toscana, Palau de la Musica Barcelona, and twenty roles with the New York City Opera, including Amastre in Handel's Xerxes, voted opera production of the year by USA Today. 1999 was her debut season for the Metropolitan Opera in Arnold Schoenberg's Moses und Aron and Leos Janacek's Katya Kabanova. Of her over forty recordings, The Pleasures & Follies of Love was chosen as disc of the month by "Alte Musik Aktuell" in Germany, and Ariodante won a Gramophone Award. Award-winning films include Dido & Aeneas with The Mark Morris Dance Group and The Opera Lover. She is currently Associate Professor of Voice at the University of North Texas.

Soprano Ann Moss enjoys an active career in both her hometown of Boston and her new Bay Area home. Her stage roles include Blonde (Die Entfuhring aus dem Seraglio, Berkeley Opera) Nannetta (Falstaff, Berkeley Opera), Despina (Cosi fan tutte, UMASS Opera Theater), Patience (Valley Light Opera) and Dew Fairy (Hansel and Gretel, SFCM Opera Theater). She has performed in Master Classes with Jose Van Dam, Nathan Gunn, Graham Johnson, Martin Katz, Jake Heggie, John Harbison, Craig Smith, and Barbara Kilduff, among others. Ann resides and teaches in Berkeley, studies with Sheri Greenwald, and coaches with Steven Bailey. Recognized as a champion of both early and contemporary song repertoire, Ann is frequently sought out by composers to co-create and premiere new works of music. She has collaborated with composers such as Jake Heggie, John Harbison, Eric Sawyer, Graham Hair, and Vartan Aghababian. As winner of SF Conservatory's American Art Song Competition, she participated in the 2005 San Francisco Song Festival, premiering a prize-winning work at Meyer Hall. Last spring, she joined composer Eric Sawyer for the world premiere of Itasca as well as the west coast premiere of his Vocalise. Upcoming engagements include additional performances of Itasca, songs by Jake Heggie for the Noe Valley Chamber Music, a recital for the Florence Crittenton Foundation, and 3 west coast premieres of living American composers at the San Francisco Conservatory of music. Recent concert appearances include Bach's Magnificat, Faure's Requiem, Handel's Messiah, and Mendelssohn's Lauda Sion in Boston, and Hindemith's Die Serenaden, Bach's St. Matthew Passion and Strauss's Brentano Lieder in San Francisco. She holds a Post Graduate Degree in Voice from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, a Master of Music Degree in Voice from Longy School of Music, and a Bachelor of Arts from Hampshire College. She attended the internationally renowned Songfest program for two consecutive years.

Paul Shipper is a familiar face to early music audiences worldwide, performing as singer, instrumentalist, actor and director. He is a founding member of Ex Umbris and the lute band Visceral Reaction, bass soloist and continuo player with the baroque ensemble Artek, and co-director of the theater group Bottom's Dream. Paul also freelances as solo singer and instrumentalist with Pomerium, the Baltimore Consort, Hesperus, Concert Royale, The Folger Consort, Piffaro, Early Music New York, The Harp Consort, Apollo's Fire and other ensembles. He has performed at festivals in Utrecht, Cracow, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Athens, London, Paris, Florence, and Regensburg, as well as at festivals in music centers throughout the USA including Ravinia, Boston, Tanglewood, Miami, and Bloomington. Recent vocal projects include recitals of the 16th century Meistersingers, Lieder of Schubert, Brahms, and Wolf; and three featured roles in the first full modern performance of Lully's Carnaval Mascerade with Paul O'Dette. Paul has also directed opera and video, including The Marriage of Figaro for Bronx Opera, and co-direction of La purpura de la rosa at Amherst Early Music with Andrew Lawrence-King, music director. Recordings of Paul's work can be found on Harmonia Mundi, RCA, Windham Hill, BMG, Dorian, Koch, Arabesque, Lyrichord and other labels.

Richard Savino's performances and recordings have been praised by critics throughout the world. In addition to receiving a Diapason d'Or from Compact (Paris) and a 10 du Repertoire (Paris), the latter has also placed his Boccherini recordings in their Great Discoveries category which they deem essential to any classical music collection. He has also recorded the romantic guitar music of Johann Kaspar Mertz (HM), virtuoso sonatas by Paganini and Giuliani with violinist Monica Huggett, and sonatas for flute and guitar with flutist Laurel Zucker. In 1998 Koch International Classics released his recording of 18th baroque guitar music from Mexico by Santiago de Murcia. In January 1999 this CD was the "Global Hit" on the public Radio International program "The World," and in March 1999 it was the “CD of the month” for the German periodical Alte Musik Aktuell. As a member of Ensemble Galatea he has recorded a collection of monody by Barbara Strozzi with soprano Emanuela Galli, works by Biagio Marini with Monica Huggett and the music of Giovanni Buonamente with Bruce Dickey and Ms. Huggett. His most recent recordings feature the solo music of French guitarist Robert de Visee and the first full orchestral, period instrument versions of Boccherini's Guitar Symphonia and the Op.30 Concerto by Mauro Giuliani with the Portland Baroque Orchestra under the direction of Monica Huggett. As a continuo player and accompanist Mr. Savino has worked with some of the world’s most important performers and is a principal performer with the Houston Grand Opera, New York Collegium, Portland Baroque Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, and Glimmerglass Opera. This summer will mark his debut with the Santa Fe Opera. From 1986-98 Mr. Savino directed the CSU Summer Arts Guitar and Lute Institute. Presently he is director of the ensemble El Mundo and in 1995 and 2005 was Visiting Artistic Director of the prestigious NEH sponsored Aston Magna Academy at Rutgers University. An avid writer, Mr. Savino has had articles and editions published by Cambridge University Press, Editions Chantarelle and Indiana University Press. He is a lecturer at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and a Professor of Music at CSU Sacramento.

Zachary Carrettin completed Bachelor and Master of Music degrees in classical violin at Rice University Shepherd School of Music, and a Certificate in Orchestral Conducting at the National University of Music, Bucharest. He has been featured as concerto soloist numerous times with the American Bach Soloists, Camerata Pacifica, OrchestraX and others, in a variety of repertory ranging from baroque music on period instruments to premiere performances of contemporary music. Composer-in-Residence with aerial-vertical dance troupe Project Bandaloop, Carrettin's compositions have been heard at the Kennedy Center, the Wolf Trap Center for the Performing Arts and the San Francisco War Memorial Opera House. Recently the Bachiana Chamber Orchestra in Sao Paulo premiered two of his works for string orchestra. Carrettin has conducted orchestras in Germany, Romania, Moldavia and the U.S., and has recovered numerous works by Italian composers of the eighteenth century.

Adam LaMotte is becoming well known to audiences in the Pacific Northwest as a leader of both period and modern ensembles. He has appeared as soloist, concertmaster, and conductor of numerous orchestras throughout the country, including the Northwest Sinfonietta in Seattle, American Virtuosi of New York, Astoria Festival Orchestra, Portland Baroque Orchestra, and the Maggini String Orchestra in Houston. Mr. LaMotte recently returned from studying under Maestro Dumitru Goia in Bucharest, Romania, and continues his study of conducting with Gregory Vajda, Resident Conductor of the Oregon Symphony. This season he'll perform as soloist in the Beethoven Violin Concerto, as well as both of Felix Mendelssohn's Violin Concerti. He has co-founded two critically-acclaimed ensembles, in Portland and in Houston, and continues to produce many chamber music and chamber orchestra performances. In collaboration with ensembles such as American Bach Soloists, Portland Baroque Orchestra, El Mundo, and Trinity Consort, Mr. LaMotte performs on period instruments, using a fine Italian instrument made in 1730 by Bernardo Calcagni, for which he is indebted to his generous patrons who made the purchase possible.

Cellist John Lutterman is principal cellist of the Capella Sacra, Salzburg and the Apollo Baroque Orchestra. He has given solo recitals in Vienna, Salzburg, Munich, New York, Washington, Sacramento and San Francisco, and has performed with many leading period instrument orchestras including Salzburger Hofmusik, the Wiener Akademie, Philharmonia Baroque, the American Bach Soloists, Magnificat and the Archangelli Strings. He has served on the faculty of Lawrence University, the Wisconsin Conservatory, SUNY Stony Brook, the University of the Pacific, and is currently a lecturer at UC Davis. Mr. Lutterman studied cello with Steven Doane, Bernard Greenhouse and Timothy Eddy, and holds the Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the State University of New York at Stony Brook. He studied baroque cello and viola da gamba with Christoph Coin, Jaap ter Linden and Nicolaus Harnoncourt at the Schola Cantorum, Basel, the Royal Conservatory in the Hague and the Mozarteum, Salzburg. In March 2006, Mr. Lutterman completed a Ph.D. in historical musicology at UC Davis, with a dissertation on J. S. Bach’s Suites for Solo Cello as artifacts of improvisatory practices.

Matthew Dirst is the first American musician to win major international prizes in both organ and harpsichord, including first prize at the American Guild of Organists National Young Artist Competition (1990) and second prize at the inaugural Warsaw International Harpsichord Competition (1993). Recent performances include recitals for the Berkeley Early Music Festival, the International Festival-Institute at Round Top (TX), the Kalamazoo Bach Festival, the Los Angeles Harpsichord Center, national convention programs for the American Guild of Organists and Music Teachers National Association, concerto appearances with the Houston Symphony, the El Paso Symphony, the Marin Symphony, the Texas Baroque Ensemble, and the Dallas Bach Society.

Appointed Assistant Professor of Music at the University of Houston in 1996, Dirst directs the Moores School of Music Collegium Musicum and Ars Lyrica Houston, two groups that have won both local and national acclaim for their innovative and musically satisfying presentations of Baroque chamber and theatrical works.

Equally active as a scholar, Dirst holds degrees from the University of Illinois, Southern Methodist University, a PhD in musicology from Stanford University, and was the recipient of a Fulbright Fellowship for study in France. His publications include several articles on the music of Johann Sebastian Bach as well as translations, transcriptions, and cooperative projects in computer-assisted studies of musical complexities.

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