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Events

Informance & Luncheon: Lyric Opera Theatre Guild Preview
Saturday, Feb. 9
Admission: By advance reservation only. Reservation deadline: Jan. 29

An opportunity to hear selections from Handel’s Guilio Cesare (to be performed later in the series), to meet the directors, and to meet the cast in an informal setting. The Lyric Opera Theatre Guild provides financial support to students in the program. Guild previews are normally open to members only; for this occasion, guests will be allowed (with advance reservations), and there will be an opportunity to join the Guild during this special afternoon event.

Contact: Barbara Daniel, 480.893.3239, for time, location and reservation details.


Symposium: Handel’s London
Monday, Feb. 11, 6:30 p.m.
Location: Pulliam Auditorium, Burton Barr Central Library, 1221 N. Central Ave., Phoenix
Admission: Free

Four members of the ASU faculty explore various aspects of cultural life in eighteenth-century London, one of the world’s great cities. Professor of History Kent Wright will give an overview of the city and its intellectual and creative activity. Professor of Art Anthony Gully will speak about some of the artists of the time, including Handel’s friend, William Hogarth. Professor of English O.M. Brack will speak about Handel’s great contemporary Samuel Johnson and the literary scene in London. Professor of Music David Schildkret will moderate and speak briefly on Handel’s place in this lively scene.


Art Exhibit: Hogarth Looks at Handel’s London (Anthony Gully, curator)
Feb. 16 - May 18
Location: ASU Art Museum - Multipurpose Room
Admission: Free

A display of prints by Hogarth, Rowlandson, and Cruikshank from ASU’s permanent collection. Among the highlights are an engraving of the famous Hogarth self-portrait, the series “The Rake’s Progress,” which includes a character reputed to be Handel, and cartoons and drawings of theatrical life in 18th-century London.

Contact: ASU Art Museum, 480.965.2787


Concert: Handel Gems
Thursday, Feb. 21, 7:30 p.m.
Location: Organ Hall, ASU School of Music
Admission: Free

The ASU Chamber Orchestra presents an evening of magnificent instrumental works by Handel.


Lyric Opera Theatre Performance: Giulio Cesare
Feb. 22-23, 29 & March 1, 7:30 p.m.
Location: Evelyn Smith Music Theatre
Tickets: $7-$22
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In his own time, Handel was best known as an impresario who composed lavish operas and then organized and conducted the companies that performed them. He wrote and produced more than 40 such works, all larger-than-life treatments of mythological and historical subjects. Guilio Cesare deals with two of the grandest historical figures of all time: at the center of the opera is the glamorous Egyptian queen, Cleopatra, whose encounter with Julius Caesar has both personal and public consequences.

Handel’s Giulio Cesare is a study of hidden agendas at work during the creation and consolidation of the Roman Empire. Julius Caesar and his noble Romans take on the manipulative world of Cleopatra’s Egypt. Egypt is being pulled apart by dynastic intrigue while the Romans are trying to bring their own civil war to an end. Peace in both camps necessitates the absorption of Egypt as a Roman province. Sung in Italian with English supertitles.


Enrichment Opportunity: Handel Day
Tuesday, Feb. 26, 10 a.m.– 2:30 p.m.
Location: ASU Herberger College of the Arts
Admission: Free, pre-registration required. Registration deadline: Feb. 21 with Janet Cape.

Spend the day with the students and faculty of the Herberger College of the Arts as they introduce various aspects of Handel’s music! The day is primarily designed for area high school students, but members of the general public are welcome with an advance registration. Activities include:

  • Hogarth Looks at Handel's London
    Professor Anthony Gully of the Art History Department will present a live gallery talk on the print exhibit at the ASU Art Museum.
  • Chamber Music Performances
    Members of ASU’s artist-faculty present some delightful, little-known works by Handel for small instrumental ensembles. Included is Handel’s Overture for 2 clarinets and horn, among the earliest works composed for the clarinet.
  • Handel’s Singers
    Professor Robert Barefield will introduce the audience to three of Handel’s most famous singers: Francesca Cuzzoni, Susannah Cibber, and James Beard. Each of these three colorful characters will be portrayed by an outstanding voice student at ASU, who will sing one of the arias Handel composed especially for them.
  • Open Rehearsal
    ASU’s premier choral ensemble, the Chamber Singers, prepares for its performance of Messiah and its trip to Anaheim for the Western Division Convention of the American Choral Directors Association. Handel Day participants are welcome to attend this rehearsal.

The total number of participants is strictly limited to 200, divided into groups of no more than 50. Reserve your space with Janet Cape by Feb. 21.


Concert: Messiah
Wednesday, March 5, 7 p.m.
Location: Evelyn Smith Music Theatre
Tickets: Students, $7; General, $12
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Thursday, March 6, 2008, 7 p.m.
Location: Trinity Episcopal Cathedral, 100 W. Roosevelt Street, Phoenix
Tickets: $12; $7 (students)
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Performing Messiah (usually in abridged versions) has become a Christmas tradition in the United States, but Handel intended the work for Lent, when staged performances of operas could not be presented. He composed some two-dozen works for chorus, orchestra, and soloists that could be performed without being acted out. These oratorios, of which Messiah is certainly the most famous and most often performed, allowed Handel to present concerts when the theatres would otherwise have been dark.

The ASU Chamber Singers, Chamber Orchestra, and student soloists under the direction of David Schildkret present an uncut Lenten performance of Handel’s Messiah. Our performance challenges another tradition: instead of a large, grandiose performing force, we’ll have about 24 singers in the chorus and a comparably-sized orchestra. This is typical of the ensemble Handel would have used, and it allows the music to shine with clarity and glittering Baroque splendor.

You may have heard Messiah, but have you heard it like this lately?


Organ Concert: Going for Baroque!
Sunday, March 9, 2:30 p.m.
Location: Organ Hall, ASU School of Music
Tickets: $7-$18
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Goldman Professor of Organ and Director of the School of Music Kimberly Marshall presents a program of early and late Baroque music, featuring the Fritts and Traeri organs. Included on the program will be excerpts from Handel’s organ concertos and fugues, as well as music by Handel’s contemporaries.

 

 

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