The Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, the period-instrument chamber group based in San Francisco, has announced details of its next season, subtitled “Season of Stars.” Among soloists scheduled to appear with the orchestra under Music Director Nicholas McGegan are mezzo-soprano Susan Graham, who will sing with the Philharmonia Chorale in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas to mark the composer’s 350th birthday; the cast will include sopranos Christine Brandes and Céline Ricci, contralto Jill Grove, and tenor Brian Thorsett. The same program will include Purcell’s Abdelazar (“The Moor’s Revenge”) Suite and his early Chacony in G minor. A Haydn bicentennial concert will include Symphony No. 101 (“The Clock”) and the Cello Concerto, with soloist Steven Isserlis. Also scheduled is a concert performance of Handel’s Orlando, with the cast from the International Handel Festival Göttigen in Germany: sopranos Dominique Labelle and Susanne Rydén, mezzo-soprano Diana Moore, countertenor William Towers, and bass-baritone Wolf Matthias Friedrich. Jordi Savall will conduct and perform on viola da gamba in a concert of works by Dumanoir, Lully, Handel, and Telemann.
Posted March 24, 2009
