Music of the Baroque to expand in 40th anniversary season

Wed Mar 17, 2010 at 11:27 pm

By Lawrence A. Johnson


Music of the Baroque will mark its 40th anniversary next season by doing something unheard of in the current economically straitened era.

At a time when many classical-music organizations across the country are cutting back on their events, Music of the Baroque will expand, offering eight programs and nineteen performances in the 2010-2011 season.

That said, the repertoire for Music of the Baroque’s anniversary season is on the conservative side, with music director Jane Glover and principal guest conductor Nicholas Kraemer leading a mix of Baroque and Classical works that includes Handel’s Messiah, Bach’s Brandenburgs and popular symphonies of Haydn and Mozart.

The season will open September 26 with Glover leading performances of Dido and Aeneas with mezzo-soprano Krisztina Szabo in an all-Purcell program that also offers the Ode to Saint Cecilia.

In December, Glover will lead MOB in the ensemble’s first performance in over two decades of Bach’s massive Christmas Oratorio, with soloists Paul Agnew, Lisa Saffer, Renata Pokupic and Sanford Sylvan.

Glover directs a Mozart and Haydn program in January that includes Haydn’s Symphonies Nos. 102 and 104, Mozart’s Bassoon Concerto with soloist William Buchman and, a genuine rarity, Leopold Mozart’s Trumpet Concerto with Barbara Butler as soloist.

In April, Glover will conduct her first-ever Music of the Baroque performances of Handel’s Messiah. The  starry lineup of soloists includes Elizabeth Futral, Catherine Wyn-Rogers, John McVeigh and Christopheren Nomura. MOB’s 40th anniversary season closes in May with Glover leading an all-Mozart program featuring the composer’s final three symphonies.

Nicholas Kraemer will be on the podium in November for Vivaldi’s Gloria and Handel’s Dixit Dominus (soloists to be announced), as well as a March program spotlighting three of Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos. Podium duties for MOB’s popular Christmas concerts have yet to be determined.

Subscription packages for the 2010-2011 season are on sale now at the Music of the Baroque box office, 312-551-1414. Renewing subscribers can also order online at http://www.baroque.org/. Single tickets will go on sale August 1.

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