Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra

Music Director Nicholas McGegan conducts Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra in Beethoven’s symphonies from his middle period on historically accurate instruments.

Writing of the live performance of Symphony No. 4, the San Francisco Classical Voice said: “This was the perfect music for this conductor and this orchestra, so beloved for their balance of wit and profundity…This was fine Beethoven playing — damn fine.”

The San Jose Mercury News noted, “Interpreted by McGegan and the orchestra, it was a joy…clear, direct, intimate Beethoven.”

Handel’s 1736 opera 'Atalanta' concluded with a spectacular display of fireworks in its first year of performance; it has only recently been revived for the first time since the 18th century. The fireworks on this live Philharmonia Baroque recording from 2005 are of the vocal variety. The San Francisco Chronicle raved: “Magnificent… the most vibrant, exhilarating stretch of musical showmanship this organization has offered in many a long season. Not since a decade ago have Philharmonia audiences witnessed a performance so deep, so affecting or so rich in musical splendor… The music is inventive and beautiful throughout… McGegan, a consummate master of this style, led a performance that was at once tender and vivacious, brisk and rhythmically free. .. Even in a cast without a weak link, soprano Dominique Labelle stood out for the grandeur and pathos of her singing in the title role… a breathtaking performance.”

As a tribute to the artistry of Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, this retrospective gathers together many of the finest recordings of arias and duets made during her acclaimed association with harmonia mundi. The booklet notes include tributes from her husband, Peter Lieberson, Nicholas McGegan and her obituary from Le Monde.

Lorraine Hunt - who became Lorraine Hunt Lieberson after her marriage to the American composer Peter Lieberson in 1999 - was born on March 1st 1954, in San Francisco. Her father was a music teacher and a conductor, her mother a contralto and a voice teacher. She played viola professionally until she was 26, when she found that her voice could be a better and richer way to express her musicality and secure her professional future. Lorraine would have a professional singing career of only 2 decades (1984-2006), interrupted twice by illness. She died from cancer on July 3, 2006, aged 52.

For harmonia mundi, Lorraine Hunt Lieberson recorded operas, oratorios and Handel arias, conducted notably by Nicholas McGegan. For Erato, she added the rôles of Rameau’s Phèdre and Charpentier’s Medea, under William Christie. Since her death, other taped live performances have been added to her discography, including two Wigmore Hall Live recitals and Peter Lieberson’s Rilke and Neruda Songs.

In 2009 harmonia mundi issued a recital given at the Ravinia Festival in August 2004 with pianist Peter Serkin. More recently, new label Philharmonia Baroque has issued Lorraine’s live performances of Les Nuits d’Eté and Handel Arias.

A formidable musician, a natural-born actress, she was at her best in roles of sacrificed victims, which didn’t prevent her from displaying a dark sense of humour. After having sung during the same evening Stravinsky’s Jocasta and Britten’s Phaedra, she once said: ‘Two suicides in one night! That’s right up my alley’.

“For those who loved Lorraine and her singing, and for those who have not yet heard her, my gratitude to harmonia mundi.” PETER LIEBERSON (b.1946, d.2011)

“If Brahms had called his enchanting Serenade in D major a symphony—and he almost did—we would be hearing it all the time.” (Michael Steinberg, annotator)

Music Director Nicholas McGegan and Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra bring to life the depth and brilliance of Brahms’ two Serenades in this recording on historically accurate instruments.

Recorded live at First Congregational Church, Berkeley, CA on March 10-11, 2012 (Serenade No. 2) and February 13-14, 2010 (Serenade No. 1).

Our familiarity with Vivaldi’s music makes it a particular challenge to any soloist not only to measure up to the virtuosity of past performers, but also to bring to the performance something new. In the case of Elizabeth Blumenstock and the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, that “something new” is actually something very old and precious in its authenticity and faithfulness—a performance that would, without doubt, have pleased the Red Priest mightily.

RV271, L’amoroso and RV277, Il favorito were part of a set of six concertos Vivaldi gave to Emperor Charles VI, who rewarded him with lots of money, a knighthood, a gold medal and an invitation to come visit him in Vienna. And yet one cannot help feeling that these pieces weren’t actually written for the ruler of the Holy Roman Empire. The innocent tenderness and joy of L’amoroso and Il favorito, their distinctly feminine lyric sadness and longing, would point to the pieces first having been written for the girls and women of the Pietà.

The rarely recorded concerto in B-flat major (RV375) is from Vivaldi’s late period. Complex and nuanced, the piece is filled with emotions that seem to belong more exclusively to the composer. While RV375 is recognisably the work of the same exuberant man who composed “The Four Seasons,” there is a morbid sense of foreboding in the music, especially in the first movement, and a tone of defiance throughout.

Baroque violinist Elizabeth Blumenstock is widely admired as a performer of compelling verve and eloquence. She has played with Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra since 1981 as a regular soloist, concertmaster, and leader. She is also a regular concertmaster with American Bach Soloists, the Göttingen Händelfestspiel Orchestra and the Italian ensemble Il Complesso Barocco. She plays a 1660 Andrea Guarneri violin on loan from the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra Period Instrument Trust.

San Francisco’s Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra celebrates its 30th Anniversary Season in 2010-11. Led by Music Director Nicholas McGegan since 1985, Philharmonia Baroque is recognised as one of the finest chamber orchestras, as well as one of the most exciting period instrument ensembles, in the country. This trio of Haydn symphonies displays the remarkably consistent quality and inventiveness of the composer’s output: from the clever and concise symphony No.88 to the humorous ‘Clock’ to the dazzling and sonorous Symphony No.104 (Haydn’s swan song to the genre), this superb collection bears eloquent witness to Haydn’s consummate mastery.