SANTA CRUZ — The Santa Cruz Baroque Festival continues its 46th season on Sunday with music by Johann Sebastian Bach, Georg Phillip Telemann and Arcangello Corelli.
Recorder virtuoso Claudia Gantivar returns to the festival, this time as part of The Virtu Ensemble, a group of Early Music specialists from North and South America and Europe. Other members are soprano Angelique Zuluaga, Cynthia Black on violin, Frederic Rosselet on cello and Bernard Gordillo on harpsichord.
ABOVE: Recorder virtuoso Claudia Gantivar will perform with the Virtu Ensemble this Sunday at UCSC. (Contributed Photo)
Included in the program will be Telemann cantatas and Bach arias, as well as instrumental works by Bach and Telemann, and a violin sonata by Corelli.
The 2019 theme of the Baroque Festival, “Roots of Bach,” explores how Bach’s style developed in the context of North German traditions, influenced by music of earlier generations and other composers whose work he respected. These include the Italian aria and concerto, as established by the renowned violin virtuoso Arcangelo Corelli — a generation before J.S. Bach influenced all of European music in the mid-18th century.
Bach’s friend, Georg Phillip Telemann, was equally influenced by Italian taste, and his compositional style and craft was another important influence of Bach, who prized Telemann’s friendship so highly that he borrowed Telemann’s first name as the middle name of one of his sons (Carl Phillip Emanuel Bach), and as a mark of respect, asked Telemann to serve as a godparent.
“Roots of Bach & Telemann” will be held at the UCSC Music Center Recital Hall on Sunday at 3 p.m. A pre-concert talk will take place 45 minutes before the concert. Tickets are $25 for general admission, $22 for seniors and youth/senior tickets for $10. An additional $5 parking fee at UCSC is required.
For information, call the Santa Cruz Baroque Festival at 457-9693 or visit scbaroque.org.
