Elisabeth Hetherington & B’Rock Orchestra
Christmas Special: Purcell, Händel, Pärt & Corelli
In this Christmas program, B'Rock follows the star of the Baroque through Europe.
Programme
Marc-Antoine Charpentier
1643-1704
Noëls sur les instruments, H.534
Henry Purcell
1659-1695
Sweeter the Roses, The Blessed Virgin's Expostulation
Michel-Richard Delalande
1657-1726
Symphonies de Noël
Georg Friedrich Händel
1685-1759
Gloria, HWV Deest
Arvo Pärt
1935
Fratres
Arcangelo Corelli
1653-1713
Concertos grossi opus 6 no. 8
Alessandro Scarlatti
1660-1725
Pastoral Cantata 'O di Betlemme altera'
Performers
Elisabeth Hetherington | soprano
Evgeny Sviridov | violin & artistic direction
B'Rock Orchestra
First stop: Corelli's Italy, featuring the iconic eighth concerto grosso from opus 6, subtitled 'for Christmas Eve'. In the closing Pastorale you hear the humming bagpipes of the shepherds in the field.
A similar effect can be heard in Alessandro Scarlatti's O di Betlemme altera. The glowing arias and recitatives of this moving Christmas cantata are perfectly suited to soprano Elisabeth Hetherington, as is the virtuosic solo part in Händel's Gloria, a recently rediscovered composition from his earliest Italian years.
After a journey through Purcell's England, the voyage leads to France, where Charpentier and Delalande transformed traditional Christmas carols into instrumental depictions of pastoral beauty. B'Rock comes to a blessed standstill in 20th-century Estonia, with the subtle suggestion of bells ringing in Arvo Pärt's enchanting Fratres.
