Amanda Forsythe and Opera Prima:
Tormento Seicento
JAN 26 @ 7:30 PM
FIRST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH
LONG BEACH, CA
Join soprano Amanda Forsythe, viola da gamba virtuoso Cristiano Contadin, and his renowned ensemble, Opera Prima, in a program of music exploring the Galant style that was in vogue during the middle of the 18th century. The complexity and formal structure of the Baroque gives way to a charismatic beauty and captivating elegance that was still grounded by a virtuosic basso continuo.
Opera Prima, a newly established ensemble directed by Cristiano Contadin, was created to bring historically informed concerts and recordings of the Renaissance and Baroque period to life. The heart of the project lies in exploring the repertoire of the viola da gamba across its various styles and approaching all music with pleasure and enthusiasm, as if each work for this instrument were newly composed.
ABOUT THE SHOW
In many ways, the music of the early baroque period bears a stronger relationship to jazz improvisation than to the late baroque composers, such as Handel and Bach, that still dominate the early music scene. If you were to glance at a score for any one of the pieces we will perform tonight, you would most likely see nothing but a ground bass– a short, repeating melody, which serves as the structure upon which the song is built. Perhaps a few chords would be suggested by numbers or accidentals over the ground bass line. There would be no indication as to which instruments should be used, and if we were to play only the notes on the page, you would have a very long evening ahead of you. But musicians of the early baroque were masters of improvisation, and they invented melodies and harmonies with skill and confidence, augmenting the textual moods.
The goal of this period in music was expression – the singer was at an advantage, with the text and melody notated, but the heart of this operation was the Basso Continuo, the musicians that interpreted the figured bass line. In our sextet, the viola da gamba, theorbo, and harp provide the harmonic structure, but also join the violin and cornetto in improvising dazzling riffs on the theme, in an attempt to move the heart of the listener. The texts for our program are based on tormented love, both romantic and spiritual, that promote the idea that love and pain are two sides of one coin. The repetitive nature of the ground bass, often disrupted by short recitatives, allows the musicians to play with rhythms and harmonies to further the emotional connection. For the singer, in addition to rhythmic and melodic variation, the tools of emotional contrast include the use of vibrato and chest voice, the breathiness or “ugliness” of the sound, the choice of legato, staccato, marcato, or rubato, and of course, dynamics. In the band, choices are made regarding tempo, bowing vs plucking, how to fill in the harmonies, which combinations of instruments to use, and the number of repeats needed to effectively balance the music. In short, there are hundreds of choices to make for each piece. Though some are planned in advance, knowing that the cornetto will have an 8 measure solo is different than knowing exactly what he will play. Before we arrived on “Tormento seicento”, the working title of this program was “Once more, with feeling!“, and we hope that our improvisations tonight fill you with an appreciation of the inventive spirit of the early baroque.
- Cristiano Contadin
“Amanda Forsythe’s heartfelt dissonances, elegantly supported by the ensemble, cascade one onto the next, evoking a sense of longing that transcends time and place. This style of music hits directly at the heart and is a gentle—and at times forceful—reminder of the complexities of love and the human spirit, and the performers brought this fully to life.”
- Jonathan Salaman (La Voce di New York)
THE VENUE
FIRST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH
241 Cedar Avenue
Long Beach, California 90802
In 1866, Lewellyn Bixby and his cousins Thomas and Benjamin Flint purchased Rancho Las Cerritos. Lewellyn’s younger brother, Jotham Bixby, bought an interest in the rancho in 1869, and Jotham and his wife Margaret moved onto the rancho to manage it and help it flourish. In 1887, 10,000 acres of rancho land was sold to developers for what would become Long Beach.
Margaret Bixby was anxious to start a Congregational church in Long Beach. Her father, abolitionist George Hathaway of Skowhegan, Maine, was a Congregational minister known for his liberal theology and social activism. Mrs. Bixby shared her father’s theology and love of the church. The Bixbys erected Cerritos Hall, the only public building in Long Beach at that time, at the corner of Third Street and Cedar Avenue. In 1888, it became the home of the First Congregational Church. Rev. Hathaway came to California to preach the first sermon at this fledgling church with twelve members.
