THE GIFT OF VOX!
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VOX AMA DEUS
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SEASON XXIV
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SERATA VENEZIANA PREVIEW
"...Radu, who also leads the larger choral/instrumental Ama Deus Ensemble and the Vox Renaissance Consort, recalled seeing Venice for the first time in 1976, when he was visiting Italy to take part in an arts festival. He performed as an organist in the Basilica of San Giovanni.
I fell in love with the city, he said, because it's such an unusual place and because the Venetians are so wonderful. They're friendly and extremely cultured. And, you know, Venice has more churches per square foot than any other city in the world. And it has an amazing musical tradition, reaching back to the Renaissance and into more recent times, playing an important part in the baroque revival with ensembles such as I Solisti Veneti.
Radu has been interested in period instrument ensembles since first forming a chamber group in his native Bucharest. When he came to America to study at New York City's Juilliard School of Music, he also founded a chamber ensemble to play music from the 18th century. After founding the Vox Renaissance Consort 24 years ago, Radu subsequently founded the Ama Deus Ensemble (both choral and instrumental) and then the smaller, chamber group Camerata Ama Deus four years ago ..."
- MICHAEL CARUSO, Noteworthy, Chestnut Hill LOCAL 10/21/10 FESTA VIVALDI
"...For his all-Vivaldi season finale, Vox's Valentin Radu selected five unfamiliar pieces from Vivaldi's huge catalogue, along with one piece I will hear as often as any one wants to play it: the buoyant, irresistible Lute Concerto in D Major.
The opening and closing movements of the Lute Concerto raced along with all the required gaiety, and the slow movement received a perfect treatment, with Daniel Boring playing in front of a beautifully controlled, nicely modulated string background.
The other concertos on the agenda were all equally satisfying examples of Vivaldi's enthusiastic exploitation of instruments that reached a new level of development during the Baroque era. ..."
- TOM PURDOM, Broad Street Review 5/18/10
CD RECORDING REVIEWS OF JUDAS MACCABAEUS
... The recording preserves in good sound an enjoyable live February 2009 performance by unstarry but worthy Philadelphia-based forces. Romanian born Valentin Radu paces the able Ama Deus chorus increasingly well and elicits generally solid results!...Timothy Bentch is incisive as to phrasing and diction, showing good coloratura and breath control, with dynamic play in the voice...Soprano
Andrea Lauren Brown (Israelite Woman) offers a pretty, clear timbre with very little vibrato; most of what she does - and hers is the most substantial solo role - is very enjoyable,...Richard Shapp handles the Messenger's two recits capably.
- Opera and Oratorio ONLINE, October 2009, by DAVID SHENGOLD
... Both the Handel and Vivaldi albums are excellent buys. Handel's "Messiah" is so overwhelming and popular a masterpiece that it has overshadowed many of his other compositions. "Judas Maccabeus" may not approach the flawless so closely as does "Messiah," but its telling of the story of the ancient Israelites' rebellion against their Syrian oppressors is thrillingly relayed in arias, ensembles, choruses and instrumental music. The performance is energetic, stylish and resonant.
Radu wisely balanced audiences' familiarity with the four concerti of Vivaldi's "Four Seasons" by including on the CD the Flute Concerto in A minor, the Concerto for Two Violins in A minor and the Concerto for Two Trumpets in C major. Both CDs feature exemplary playing in the continuo of Roxborough harpsichordist Bronwyn Fix-Keller. - Noteworthy, Chestnut Hill LOCAL 09/03/09 by MICHAEL CARUSO. |
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A note from the Maestro
by Maestro Radu
From among Franz Joseph Haydn's extensive catalogue of approximately 750 compositions, I have selected three indisputable musical triumphs.
For more than 200 years, the Symphony No. 94 in G Major has been best known to the international musical audience by its familiar nickname, the Surprise Symphony. Haydn's unparalleled reputation was admired throughout Europe and garnered him two financially lucrative and musically triumphant visits to London (1791-92 and 1794-95). Haydn was well-known for his sense of humor in personal matters and in his musical expression. It was for the London audience that he composed this humorous symphony. The listener's ear expects one thing and Haydn delivers an unexpected sonic coup de theatre. This ever-popular masterpiece was composed for Haydn's first London visit, and in German bears the subtitle of mit dem Paukenschlag, or Symphony with the Kettledrum Stroke.
Haydn's last work for keyboard and orchestra is his Concerto No. 11 in D Major. Composed between 1780 and 1783, it was originally written for performance on either the harpsichord or the fortepiano, which are both forerunners of the modern piano. Guest soloist Alexander Ullman of the Curtis Institute of Music, will perform this dazzling high-Classic, Mozart-sounding work on a Steinway concert grand piano. Once again, Haydn's charm, wit and verve are clearly expressed in this high-energy gem which, incidentally, marked my debut as a soloist with the Buccharest Philharmonic when I was nine years old!
The Mass No. 10 in C Major bears several descriptive titles: Missa in tempore belli = Mass in Time of War or Paukenmesse = Kettledrum Mass. On the day after Christmas 1796, the Mass in C is first performed in Vienna. By his own hand, Haydn has inscribed the words Missa in tempore belli in the musical score. The Austrian Emperor has ordered a general military mobilization. A horrified Austria is on a war footing as Napoleon's victorious armies are on the march and threaten Haydn's homeland. For all of this work's beautiful lyrical passages, a sense of foreboding and an impassioned plea for peace (dona nobis pacem) permeate this significant composition. Sarah Davis (soprano), Meghan Williams (mezzo-soprano), Kenneth Garner (tenor) and Ed Bara (bass) will be the featured vocal soloists.
Please grab your seats today! Go to the Vox Ama Deus ticket page or call us at 610-688-2800, or you may go directly through the Kimmel Center Box Office 215-893-1999.
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HAYDN IN VIENNA:
MASS IN TIME OF WAR AMA DEUS ENSEMBLE
Program: Symphony No. 94 ("Surprise") Concerto for Piano in D Major Hob. XVIII:11
"Mass in Time of War" (Paukenmesse) Hob. XXII:8 Soloists: In collaboration with the Curtis Institute of Music, we welcome Alexander Ullman as our featured piano soloist. Last season we commemorated the bicentennial of Haydn's passing. This season we continue his tremendous legacy with three cornerstone works - the "Surprise" Symphony, the D Major Piano Concerto, and, ending an exciting evening, "Mass in Time of War" - a fitting piece then and now!
Running Time: 2 Hours including one intermission |
Music Factoid
by Richard Shapp
Q: What do Marie Antoinette (born an
Austrian princess) and
Franz Joseph Haydn have in common?
A: They Both Lost Their Heads!
OK, we all know the fate of the Austrian princess who became Queen of France. But Haydn too?!?
Fast forward 13 years from the debut of the Mass in C. Napoleon's troops occupy Vienna (yes -yet again!). Haydn dies on May 31, 1809; he receives a simple burial, not the grand event envisioned by his former patron, Prince Nikolaus Esterházy. His mortal remains are hardly at rest when Joseph Carl Rosenbaum (an employee of the Esterházy household), and a prison warden named Johann Nepomuk Peter, dig up the moldering corpse. These gentlemen believed in phrenology, the debunked pseudo-science that holds a person's mental abilities and talents can be determined by a study of his/her cranial anatomy. They found that Haydn's skull contained a large bump of music: this explained his genius!
About 10 years later, Prince Esterházy learned of this outrage and demanded the composer's skull. But Rosenbaum duped the Prince. The story goes that he even hid Haydn's skull from the authorities by placing it under his wife's mattress, having her lie on it and claim she was ill and menstruating. This ploy was enough to convince the police not to investigate further! Rosenbaum even went so far as to give the Prince a bogus skull, which the latter ordered to be interred with the composer's remains.
In time, the actual skull came into the possession of the Friends of the Society of Music in Vienna. During the 1930s another Esterházy prince tried to reunite skull and skeleton in one lavish burial memorial. But there were further delays. This writer speculates that some of these disruptions may have been caused by an Anschluss from the west followed by an invasion from the east. Finally in 1954...after nearly a century and a half...with pomp and ceremony, Haydn's head was reunited with the other remains.
And who says music history is dull as dishwater? |
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Due to our concert successes this past season we now have two new recordings to add to your collection: Vox Renaissance Consort's Renaissance Noël and the Ama Deus Ensemble's Brahms Requiem!
 The Renaissance Noël (in stock), is our first recording captured in the cathedral-like acoustics of Old Saint Joseph's Church in Olde City Philadelphia. This recording is very special and will become one of your treasured all-time favorites!
 Of course, Brahms - Ein Deutsches Requiem Op. 45 (in stock), is an essential recording for those who love authentic music interpretation done with the intensity and application to original recreation that only Maestro Radu can bring!
Both of these great recordings can be ordered by mail or online.
Thank you for your continued and renewed donations. We rely on your support! You can buy our CDs and make donations online easily and securely - and now you can even use a check ("eCheck") instead of a credit card online! It is simple and easy, just open your check book at your desk and follow the instructions!
Click here to purchase CDs and/or make a secure online donation, or simply call us today at 610-688-2800!
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