SATURDAY 18 FEBRUARY 2012, 7.45pm, St Cecilia's Hall

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Abbandonata – Invocations of Heaven and Hell

Such was the beauty of the Tenebrae service, of which Couperin’s partial setting remains the crown, that many French churches banned their performance, fearful of such scenes as described at Longchamp Abbey. The Princes and Cardinals of Rome had no such scruples, revelling in Classical mythology to expose unspoken fears through some of Handel’s most visceral music. These powerful and contrasting vocal works are drawn together by the Apollonian muse of Corelli, an inspiration for both Couperin and Handel. Sarah Gabriel, soprano, Oliver Webber and Julia Black, violins, Christopher Suckling, violoncello and bass viol, and Jan Waterfield, harpsichord, perform.

...fiendishly complicated playing...fast and faultless – Critical Review