Apollo's Fire: Behind the Scenes
Christmas Vespers
CD Release Party
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APOLLO'S FIRE RELEASESPRAETORIUS CHRISTMAS VESPERS CD
A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Making of
an Extraordinary Recording
Peter Simon, treble soloist
Heather Zweifel interviews Jeannette Sorrell
The program that took audiences by storm in 2005 – with five sold-out concerts in Northeast Ohio – is now a resplendent CD recording on the Koch International Classics label. The CD, recorded in several sessions following the concerts of 2005, evokes the sense of journey, soul-searching, and joyful triumph that Jeannette Sorrell crafted with her compilation of Christmas pieces by 17th-century composer Michael Praetorius.
Heather Zweifel took a few moments backstage with Jeannette to ask the following questions:
HZ. This project involves extraordinary performing forces: seven internationally acclaimed soloists, antiphonal choirs, children’s choir, children soloists, lutes, sackbuts, strings, cornettos, brass, recorders, organ and timpani. Am I forgetting anything?
JS. Harpsichord! -- Yes, we gathered early music specialists from across North America and Europe, including the extraordinary cornetto player, Jean Tubery, who came from France. For ten days, St Paul’s Church in Cleveland became the scene of an early 17th-century Advent and Christmas service.
HZ. I understand that you did the orchestration yourself for this music. Did Praetorius not indicate what instruments should play?
JS. For the most part, no. He makes a few suggestions here and there – things like, “this line might be played by a violin or cornetto, or just a singer.” Or, “this passage can be given to trombone if you have one, otherwise, gamba will do.” This is typical of the period. Composers left a tremendous amount of freedom to the conductor, to shape not only the interpretation but also the sound and colors of the piece. There are no tempo indications or dynamics either. The conductor essentially has to prepare a performing edition of the work, with orchestral parts printed out according to his/her decisions about who should play what.
HZ. Sounds like lots of fun creativity and lots of work!
JS. Both, definitely! It’s been a huge labor of love, and I’ve been fortunate to have such a great team to work with. My fabulous music-typesetter, Margi Haigh, prepared all the orchestral parts and vocal scores according to my instrumentation decisions. And our fantastic recording engineer, Thomas Knab, had to balance over 20 microphones in order to capture the antiphonal nature of the repertoire – various choirs and groups of instruments placed in different parts of the church. Thanks to his talents, the recording glows with the resonance of the stone church.
HZ. As a trumpet player, I have to say the finale with all the brass is quite spectacular. It sounds like it’s in surround-sound.
JS. The finale is Praetorius’ extraordinary setting of the old carol, “In Dulci Jubilo.” We recorded it the same way we do the piece in concert – with the children’s choir processing out into the aisles. It’s 83 performers surrounding the audience, all singing and playing their hearts out, uplifted by the triumph of the birth of the Messiah. Performing that piece is really an honor, every time we do it.
Apollo's Musettes
The Brass Section
A few tickets (very few!) remain to this week’s revival performances of Praetorius’ Christmas Vespers, featuring Apollo’s Singers, Apollo’s Musettes, and the Oberlin Choristers.
Call 216.320.0012 or 800.314.2535 for tickets and further information.
Wednesday, December 5, 7:30pm, St Paul’s Episcopal Church, Akron
Thursday, December 6, 7:30pm, Trinity Cathedral, Cleveland*
Friday, December 7, St. Paul’s Church, Cleveland Heights*
Saturday, December 8, 8:00pm, First Baptist Church, Shaker Heights*
Sunday, December 9, 4:00pm, Our Lady of Angels, Cleveland
*Pre-concert talk by bass soloist Paul Shipper 1 hour before the performance
Friday, December 7
Nighttown Restaurant in Cleveland Heights
Following the performance at St. Paul's Church
Celebrate with Jeannette Sorrell and the musicians at Cleveland’s favorite after-concert gathering place. Wine and hors d’oeuvres are served. Party tickets are $30, and the price includes a complimentary copy of the new CD.
Purchase tickets by Thursday by contacting Emma Joseph at 216.320.0012/ext. 2, or at ejoseph@apollosfire.org
From Penn State to Cornell University, to Florida and Kansas-
Apollo's Fire Brings Monteverdi and Vivaldi
to Life for New Audiences
Last month, Apollo’s Fire celebrated the 400th Anniversary of Monteverdi’s landmark opera L’Orfeo, with a striking new program created by Jeannette Sorrell. “Lovers & Lyres: The Worlds of Monteverdi,” presented highlights from L’Orfeo in a semi-staged production, alongside some of the later madrigal masterpieces of Monteverdi. The four performances in Cleveland and Akron were greeted by enthusiastic and sometime stunned audiences, who responded to Monteverdi’s extraordinary power to move the emotions through music.
Cleveland Plain Dealer critic Don Rosenberg wrote, “[The program] demonstrated anew how imagination, scholarship and top-flight performance chops come together to create an enthralling event.”
Jeannette and her company of singers and players were pleased to serve as Monteverdian ambassadors on tour, bringing the performances to large crowds at Penn State University and Cornell University. AF’s principal players and guest artists coached students at Penn State on their own upcoming performance of L’Orfeo, while Jeannette presented a talk on the historically informed approach to early music.
Upcoming tour performances this season include a Vivaldi program featuring the Four Seasons, and arias with renowned mezzo-soprano Jennifer Larmore. Touring under the auspices of IMG Artists, Apollo’s Fire will appear at the following venues:
March 1 - University of Florida, Gainesville
March 3 - Miami Bach Society, Florida
March 5 - Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC
March 18 - William Jewel College, Kansas City
A winter escape to Florida is being organized for Apollo’s Fire groupies. For further information, contact Heather Zweifel at 216.320.0012/ext. 5.
Apollo’s Fire is one of three baroque orchestras in the nation to receive a coveted grant this year from the National Endowment for the Arts. The $7500 grant will support a major outreach and touring project, called “Vivaldi’s Seasons: Context and Creativity.” The project includes five subscription concerts, an educational concert in collaboration with Young Audiences of Northeast Ohio, and a tour to Southeastern and Midwestern states under the auspices of IMG Artists.
In addition, Apollo’s Fire was recently awarded a major grant of over $250,000 from the Cuyahoga Arts & Culture fund, recently established with funds drawn from the new cigarette tax in the county. The grant, which will be spread over three years, is for general operating support. Apollo’s Fire was one of the top scorers in the competition for these grants, which were awarded according to a formula based on both competitive scoring and the organization’s budget size.
Board President Marjorie Kitchell said, “We are thrilled that Apollo’s Fire scored so high in the competition. The comments from the jury panel, who were arts experts from out-of-state, indicated that Apollo’s Fire has a stellar reputation far beyond the Midwest.”
Operations & Development Manager
Apollo’s Fire is accepting applications for the new position of Operations & Development Manager. This full-time position includes responsibilities in the area of data management, Annual Fund donation tracking, and travel logistics.
For further information, contact Heather Zweifel at hzweifel@apollosfire.org.