The Australian Haydn Ensemble will return to The Art House in April with a matinee performance of its new program Heavenly Sopranos – Jewels of the Baroque.
In a Sunday afternoon concerto of familiar and neglected masterworks, the group’s iconic period instruments will once again be in full effect.
But in a first for The Ensemble (at The Art House), the performance will be enhanced by the vocal stylings of Celeste Lazarenko and Helen Sherman.
Soprano Lazarenko and mezz-soprano Sherman will elevate the performance, particularly Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater, whose suspensions and interplay of soprano and mezzo has been described as “the most perfect and touching duet to come from the pen of any composer”.
The entire 40-minute mini-oratorio is written in the Italian ‘galant’ style.
Other items in the program include selections from Hasse’s Oratorio Sanctus Petrus et Sancta Maria Magdelena and Motet Alte Nubes Illustrata, with Hasse considered the most lauded operatic composer of his day.
The Australian Haydn Ensemble (AHE) was founded in 2012 and is now in its 12th year.
It has quickly established itself as one of Australia’s leading period-instrument groups, specialising in the repertoire of the late Baroque and early Classical eras.
Celeste Lazarenko and Helen Sherman, both hatchlings of the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, have graced halls as illustrious as Wigmore, Royal Albert and Glyndebourne, before returning to Australia to perform award-winning roles.
Heavenly Sopranos – Jewels of the Baroque will be performed at 2pm on Sunday, April 14.
Bookings can be made at www.thearthousewyong.com.au or by calling 4335 1485, with the option of adding an afternoon tea of scones with jam and cream and unlimited percolated tea and coffee.