“Male soprano solid as a rock: The star of Tempesta di Mare’s Sunday afternoon concert was guest vocalist Michael Maniaci. In all three of the secular cantatas Sunday afternoon for an audience that nearly filled Chestnut Hill Presbyterian Church, he sang with consummate artistry, both technically and interpretively. Co-director Gwyn Roberts was joined by Eve Friedman for Vivaldi’s “Concerto for Two Flutes.” They delineated the first movement’s quick changes of mood, caught the elegant delicacy of the second movement, and the high spirits of the third through expertly balanced dynamics and rhythmic accents.” January 2. Chestnut Hill LOCAL, February 2012.

“Maniaci possesses a voice with the range of a female soprano and the color and fullness of a mezzo. It’s a rare gift, and he exploits it with an unforced naturalness that produced some of the most appealing vocal music I’ve heard. The program’s instrumental pieces were just as good as the cantatas. The opening number, Vivaldi’s Concerto for Two Flutes in D, introduced the festivities with a Vivaldian rush. Richard Stone’s guitar added a rustic touch to the surge, and duets for the two flutes, played by Gwyn Roberts and Eve Friedman, contrasted with passages for the whole ensemble. The two flutists engaged in some witty, cheerful dialogue in a 1749 trio by Niccolo Jommelli while Eve Miller added the cello’s own style of jauntiness. Miller commanded the stage during the solos in her biggest moment, a cello concerto by Antonio Caldera, and Ngai and Fox engaged in some especially spirited interchanges in a trio sonata by Joseph Fux.” Broad Street Review, February 2012.

“For years, Tempesta di Mare has liberated its programs from the masterpiece mentality that often comes with higher-budget organizations. At Sunday’s concert at Presbyterian Church of Chestnut Hill, hardly a brand-name composer (excepting Antonio Vivaldi) or a previously known piece was heard. Tempesta di Mare is an old-music group that acts like a new-music group, by pushing the cutting edge back rather than forward. Performance-wise, the primary attraction at Sunday’s Italians in Vienna program was Michael Maniaci. There was a wonderful clarity to his passagework, and at every turn, his sympathy for the music ran deep, with a wonderful sense for shaping recitatives and making an aria phrase land with grace and confidence. As for the repertoire, the cantata “Perché son molli” had an airborne lyricism that reminded you how great Vivaldi can be.” The Philadelphia Inquirer, February 2012

“As it has done over the decade of its life, Tempesta di Mare performed a program [Leipzig Shortlist] that not only proved an historical point but that also proffered a series of musical delights. Fasch’s Concerto for Lute in D minor, Telemann’s Quatour VI in E minor, Graupner’s “Entrata per musica di tavola” and Fasch’s Concerto for Recorder in F major may not have proved themselves the equals of Bach’s Concerto for Harpsichord in F minor throughout the passage of the centuries, but all four are scores worthy of far more frequent hearing than they’re given nowadays. Fasch’s two concerti, in particular, offer lively rhythms, captivating melodies, elegant scorings and inventive harmonies. The Telemann is a fascinating display of a German composer taking on French styles. The Bach Harpsichord Concerto, of course, stole the show. It did so first of all because it’s a concise masterpiece of structure and color, and second, because Tempesta’s resident harpsichordist, Adam Pearl, gave it a superb rendition. In truth, the entire concert was performed with exemplary technical mastery, interpretive integrity and stylish panache. Gwyn Roberts was particularly noteworthy as the recorder soloist in the Fasch, as was lutenist Richard Stone in the other Fasch. And the strings played beautifully in the Telemann.” Chestnut Hill LOCAL, December 2011.

“Maybe the single most marvelous discovery of Tempesta’s decade—thanks to cofounders Gwyn Roberts and Richard Stone” — Philadelphia Inquirer

Read the full reviews for Tempesta Turns Ten

2011–2012 marks the tenth anniversary of Tempesta di Mare’s Philadelphia concert series, and we make a season-long occasion out of it with great music that celebrates auspiciousness, an expanded concert calendar, the return of star countertenor Michael Maniaci, and a two-weekend “Opus 10” festival. Season Passes and single tickets are available on our website (single tickets after Labor Day), by mail or by phone. All performances take place at the Arch Street Friends Meeting and the Presbyterian Church of Chestnut Hill.

Our season opens October 15 and 16 with Tempesta Turns Ten, performed by Tempesta’s grandest orchestra ever, replete with trumpets, horns and tympani. The program includes Vivaldi’s famous Concerto for Four Violins from L’Estro armonico on the 300th anniversary of its publication, a birthday symphony by William Boyce, a ballet suite from Rameau’s Celebrations of Polyhymnia, and a festive overture by Fasch in its modern premiere.

Leipzig Shortlist, on December 3 and 4, marks the occasion of Bach’s appointment at Saint Thomas’s Church in Leipzig. He, Telemann, Fasch and Graupner were all finalists for the same job. Though the post went to Bach, Telemann’s twelfth Paris Quartet, Fasch’s gorgeous Lute Concerto and dazzling Recorder Concerto (in its US premiere), a giddy suite for strings by Graupner and Bach’s elegaic Harpsichord Concerto in F Minor make compelling cases in support of all four composers.

On February 4 and 5, Michael Maniaci, lauded as “one of the greatest singers of his generation” (Toronto Globe and Mail), joins the Tempesta di Mare Chamber Players for Italians in Vienna. We’ll perform cantatas and chamber music by Caldara, Porsile and Badia, some Italy’s finest composers whom the glittering and sophisticated Hapsburg court imported to Vienna, by their Viennese boss Fux, and by Vivaldi, a notable visitor.

We’ll cap off our two-year celebration of the music of Fasch on March 24 and 25 by introducing four composers we’ve never played before inParty of the Muses. We present Johann Sigismund Kusser’s theatrical overture, Party of the Muses, a tour-de-force violin concerto by Pietro Locatelli, and modern premieres of a sinfonia by Samuel Endler and a concerto grosso by Heinrich Stölzel, all alongside Fasch’s rip-roaring Orchestral Suite in F.

We mark the completion of our first decade with our Opus 10 Festival, two weekends featuring musical 10’s: Opus 10, Number 10, BWV 1010 and more. Weekend-1 begins on May 12 with Opus 10–Chamber, including music by Haydn, Vivaldi, Couperin and dall’Abaco, and concludes on May 13 with Opus 10–Solo, a round-robin recital of solo works featuring our orchestra’s principals playing Bach, Weiss, Frescobaldi and others. The festival finale takes place over weekend-2 with two performances of Opus 10–Orchestra, May 19 and 20. It includes one of Jean-Marie Leclair’s jaw-dropping Opus 10 violin concertos, with concertmaster Emlyn Ngai as soloist, plus music by Handel, Vivaldi, Telemann and Scarlatti.

LIVE-IN-CONCERT RECORDING FOR CHANDOS RECORDS

Three programs on Tempesta di Mare’s 2011–2012 series—October, December and March—will include one or more works by Bach-contemporary Johann Friedrich Fasch that Chandos Records will record live-in-concert and release on its Chaconne label after the end of the season. This CD will be the third release on Chandos dedicated to this extraordinary composer’s work by Tempesta di Mare.

Chandos will release Tempesta di Mare’s second CD of works by Fasch, recorded live-in-concert during the 2010-2011 season, in November 2011.

Johann Friedrich Fasch (1688-1758) is now acknowledged as having one of the most distinctive musical voices of the German High Baroque, alongside Bach, Handel, Telemann and Zelenka. According to Tempesta co-director Richard Stone, “his as-yet-unperformed concerti, suites and symphonies are stunning works that rate as true modern rediscoveries.” Several of these works were personally restored by Stone in Dresden from original manuscripts damaged during the World War II bombings.

“These works showcase Fasch’s unparalleled gift for orchestration, his highly personal style of tuneful, forward-looking writing, and his masterful pacing of large-scale forms,” comments artistic co-director Gwyn Roberts. “They are all significant, new contributions to the concert and recorded repertoire that represent the breadth of Fasch’s orchestral œuvre.” She adds that recording these pieces live “inspires us to our most exciting playing and makes our audiences an integral part of the project.”

Chandos has contracted Tempesta di Mare to produce a new CD annually for worldwide commercial release on its Chaconne label. In a marketplace otherwise dominated by European groups, Tempesta di Mare is the only US baroque orchestra on the prestigious British label’s roster. The recording project has been made possible in part by The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage through the Philadelphia Music Project and by The William Penn Foundation.

# # #

• Concerto in D, FWV L:D5 • Ouverture in A Minor, FWV K:a1
• Sinfonia in G Minor, FWV M:g1 • Concerto in G, FWV L:G13

Get yours today directly from Tempesta!
(official North America release: November 15)

Tempesta di Mare Chamber Players will perform THE GRAND TOUR on the Fine Arts Series at Greene Memorial United Methodist Church.

For tickets and more information visit Roanoke Events.

“So much of the sheer joy of Tempesta di Mare is listening to Roberts’ beautiful, rich tone and
brilliant passage work, and the manner in which those and every other weapon in her arsenal are
put in musical service.” — The Birmingham News, February, 2010

Veracini: Sonata V

Tempesta di Mare’s orchestra will perform the TEMPESTA TURNS TEN program at Lebanon Valley College in Annville, PA. The concert will take place at the Blair Music Center, Lutz Hall at 7:30 p.m. Admission is free.

For more information visit www.lvc.edu.

We mark the completion of our first decade with our Opus 10 Festival, two weekends of musical 10’s: Opus 10, Number 10, BWV 1010, etc. The first weekend opens with Opus 10–Chamber, including trios and quartets by Haydn, Vivaldi and Couperin, followed by Opus 10–Solo, a round-robin recital of solo works by Bach, Weiss, Frescobaldi and others. The second weekend brings two performances of Opus 10–Orchestra, featuring one of Leclair’s jaw-dropping Opus 10 violin concertos, plus music by Handel, Vivaldi, Scarlatti, and Stanley.

Single tickets are now available. Please make your selection below.

OPUS 10 – CHAMBER
Saturday, May 12, 8:00
Arch Street Friends Meeting, 320 Arch Street

PROGRAM:
Recorder Concerto in D, Op 10 No 3, “Il Gardellino” — Antonio Vivaldi
Sonata in F, Op 3 No 10, for two violins and continuo — Evaristo Felice dall’Abaco
Trio in A Minor, 10th sonata from Essercizii Musici, for recorder, violin and continuo — Georg Philipp Telemann
Divertimento in A, Op 100, for flute, violin and cello (Hob IV:10) — Josef Haydn
Tenth Duo in A, for two violins without bass — Jean-Marie Leclair
Concert X from Les Goûts Réunis — François Couperin

OPUS 10 – SOLO
Sunday, May 13, 4:00
Arch Street Friends Meeting, 320 Arch Street

PROGRAM:
Sonata X, for recorder and continuo — Francesco Maria Veracini
Suite IV in E-flat, BWV 1010, for solo cello — Johann Sebastian Bach
Fantasia X in D, TWV 40:23, for solo violin — Georg Philipp Telemann
Sonata 10 in E-flat, for solo lute — Silvius Leopold Weiss
Cento Partite (100 Variations), for solo harpsichord — Girolamo Frescobaldi
Sonata in D, RV 10, for violin and continuo — Antonio Vivaldi

OPUS 10 – ORCHESTRA
Saturday, May 19, 8:00
Arch Street Friends Meeting, 320 Arch Street

Sunday, May 20, 4:00
Presbyterian Church of Chestnut Hill, 8855 Germantown Avenue, Chestnut Hill

PROGRAM:
Harpsichord Concerto in D, Op 10, No 2 — John Stanley
Recorder Concerto in F, Op 10 No 5 — Antonio Vivaldi
Violin Concerto in E Minor, Op 10 No 5 — Jean-Marie Leclair
Sinfonia X in A Minor — Alessandro Scarlatti
Concerto Grosso in D Minor, Op 6 No 10 — George Frideric Handel
Orchestral Suite in E Minor, TWV 55:e10 — Georg Philipp Telemann

Saturday, October 15, 8:00
Arch Street Friends Meeting, 320 Arch Street

Sunday, October 16, 4:00
Presbyterian Church of Chestnut Hill, 8855 Germantown Avenue, Chestnut Hill

Hear Tempesta’s grandest orchestra ever, complete with trumpets, horns and tympani! We perform Vivaldi’s famous Concerto for Four Violins on the 300th anniversary of its publication, a birthday symphony by Boyce, a ballet suite from Rameau’s Celebrations of Polyhymnia and a festive overture by Fasch in its modern premiere.

PROGRAM:
“Birthday” Symphony in A, Op 2 No 2 — William Boyce
Concerto for 4 Violins in B Minor, Op 3 No 10, from L’Estro armonico — Antonio Vivaldi
Ouverture in D, FWV K:D2* — Johann Friedrich Fasch (modern premiere)
Konzertsatz in F, FWV L:F3* — Fasch
Suite from Les Fêtes de Polymnie — Jean-Philippe Rameau

* Part of our live-in-concert, modern premiere recording for Chandos to be released in 2012.

Saturday, March 24, 8:00
Arch Street Meeting House, 320 Arch Street

Sunday, March 25, 4:00
Presbyterian Church of Chestnut Hill, 8855 Germantown Avenue, Chestnut Hill

To cap our two-year celebration of Fasch, we introduce four composers who are new to us and maybe to you, too. We present Kusser’s theatrical overture, Party of the Muses, a tour-de-force violin concerto by Locatelli, and modern premieres of a sinfonia by Endler and a concerto grosso by Stölzel, all alongside Fasch’s rip-roaring Orchestral Suite in F.

PROGRAM:
Orchestral Suite in F, FWV K:F1* — Johann Friedrich Fasch
Violin Concerto in B flat, Op 3 No 7 — Pietro Antonio Locatelli
Sinfonia in G — Johann Samuel Endler (modern premiere)
Concerto Grosso in E Minor — Gottfried Heinrich Stölzel (modern premiere)
Le Festin des Muses, Suite IV — Johann Sigismund Kusser

*Part of our live-in-concert, modern-premieres recording for Chandos to be released in 2012.