Concert Programmes

Barbara Strozzi made her name as both a performer and composer in the semi-private spaces of the ‘accademici’ of 17th century Venice, meetings of the intelligentsia to discuss and perform music, poetry and art. Described as the ‘virtuosissima cantatrice’ (most virtuous/virtuosic singer) in the preface of a work dedicated to her in 1636 by the composer Nicola Fontei, she was to become the most published composer of secular song of her time. Her distinctive style is charac￾terised by virtuosic vocal lines, sophisticated interplay between voice(s) and basso continuo accompaniment, and a dramatic ap￾proach to text setting that went above and beyond that of her influences Claudio Monteverdi and Francesco Cavalli.

This is passionate music, with the titular longing of our programme referring to desires for love, both in general and in the specific form of another person, but also to a longing for an answer to life's questions, or to relief from life's burdens.

In the summer of 1660, London’s theatres were finally able to open again after 18 long years of puritan rule.  This extraordinary time led to a theatrical revolution and a new English baroque music exemplified by Henry Purcell, born just a year before the restoration of the monarchy.  Known as the ‘English Orpheus’ Purcell brought together continental musical innovations with the English language, creating works capable of expressing romance, tragedy and comedy to an extent that remains unsurpassed.  

Ceruleo have devised a programme that runs the gamut of restoration English music, encompassing some of Purcell’s most famous pieces alongside his lesser known works and those by John Blow and John Eccles. We celebrate the first female stars of the English stage, the rich instrumental textures of the period and the Italian and French influences on this incredible music, bringing to life for new audiences the joy and excitement that came from a return to live performance 350 years ago.

A new Purcell theatre show for the 21st century taking the audience on a fictional journey inside the head of composer Henry Purcell.

Purcell is in his final illness, suffering from feverish dream-like hallucinations in which the past, present and fantasy collide and his songs take on a life of their own, moving from the ‘theatre of his mind’ to the actual theatre and beyond!

This programme celebrates the 350th anniversary of the publication of John Milton's epic poem 'Paradise Lost', one of the greatest works of epic poetry in the English language. We intersperse music of the time that reflects Milton's words by Purcell, Blow and Carissimi with readings from 'Paradise Lost', creating an evocative atmosphere.