Barefoot Chamber Concerts (“an enterprise noted for both its quality and informality” – San Francisco Classical Voice) is delighted to welcome distinguished visitors from the Peninsula, the legendary Albany Consort, playing an intriguing new program that traces the evolution of Baroque music “from Chaos to the Sublime.”
1600 was an important time for music. Revolutionary thinking insisted that we were done with the cerebral and ready to reinvent expression. A time to return to roots, a time for drama. The new music was a hit, but the old music wasn’t going away any time soon. This program looks at how these ideas played out with four works: Jean-Féry Rebel’s Le Cahos (beginning with the oddest chord in our repertoire); two pieces by Henry Purcell: a six part In Nomine firmly rooted in the old style and a Chaconne in the new; J.S. Bach‘s Fifth Brandenburg Concerto, acknowledging the newly developed concerto model, plus the harpsichord promoted to the front line; and Georg Muffat’s Passacaglia, the composer’s attempt at peace between nations by effortlessly merging German, French and Italian styles.
The Albany Consort has existed as an early music collective since 1974, in England (starting life at St. George’s Cathedral, Albany Street) until 1981, and since then in the Bay Area. The group’s repertoire spans the gamut, from duos to opera. For each program, Jonathan Salzedo brings together a group that can work together quickly and easily. Never a dull moment in their concerts, which are often informal, always intriguing, and frequently in the presence of food. The close family group of Jonathan Salzedo, Marion Rubinstein, and Laura Jeannin form the group’s core. Other local illuminati come and go as needed, sometimes just for a single visit, sometimes for the long haul. More details at www.albanyconsort.com.