Handel in Italy

To commemorate the 250th anniversary of Handel's death, Leonardo García Alarcón and a team of specialists explore the cantatas, duets and Italian oratorios of ‘il caro Sassone' (‘the dear Saxon'). These masterpieces of the genre allowed Rome's aristocracy - opera being banned in Rome in the first decade of the 18th century - to enjoy music of a dramatic and operatic style under the guise of pastoral scenes or elaborate oratorios.

The young German composer who, according to Matheson, ‘knew how to compose practically nothing other than traditional fugues' at the time of his arrival in Italy, very soon became the uncontested master of a style which would later open the way toward opera and then oratorio.

This course is aimed at solo singers and instrumentalists wishing to discover what makes these oratorios and cantatas music the pinnacle of their genre, and to explore their influences in the compositions of Alessandro Scarlatti, Corelli, Lotti, Albinoni, Caldara and Vivaldi.

Repertoire

Cantatas and duets from the Italian period (1707-1710)
Operas: Rodrigo (1707) and Agrippa (1709)
Oratorio: Il trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno (1707) and La resurrezione (1708)

Tutors

Harpsichord, organ and conductor: Leonardo García Alarcón
Voice: Céline Scheen and Fabián Schofrin
Bass continuo: Andrea De Carlo

Participants

Sopranos, mezzo-sopranos, counter-tenors, tenors, basses, oboes, bassoons, violins, violas, cellos, harpsichords, lutes.

Teaching fee

325 euros (teaching fee and lunches)
285 euros for participants of the European Baroque Academy (2006, 2007, 2008 et 2009)

Accommodation can be provided in Ambronay (bedrooms of 4-6 beds): 165 euros (night, evening meals and breakfast). Fore more details.

Participant arrival: Sunday, 12th (evening) or Monday, 13rd (before 10 am)
Participant departure: Sunday, 19th (evening) or Monday, 20th (before noon).