Handel, Silete Venti - Sherezade Panthaki with Ars Lyrica Houston

Soprano Sherezade Panthaki performs G. F. Handel's "Silete venti" with GRAMMY-nominated early music ensemble Ars Lyrica Houston.
23/24 Season: Ecstatic Visions
Friday, November 3, 2023 at 7:30 PM
Zilkha Hall, The Hobby Center for the Performing Arts
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Orchestral personnel:
Oboe/Recorder - Kathryn Montoya, Pablo Moreno
Bassoon - Benjamin Kamins
Violin I - Andrew Fouts (concertmaster), Joanna Becker, Maria Lin, Matthew Detrick
Violin II - Alan Austin, Aloysia Friedmann, Laura Cividino
Viola - Ethan Rouse, Jorge Luis Zapata Marín
Cello - Sydney ZumMallen, Eric Taeyung Mun
Violone - Deborah Dunham
Theorbo - Michael Leopold
Harpsichord/conductor - Matthew Dirst
Surtitles - Jenna Wallis
Video and audio by BEND Productions, LLC
Program Notes by Matthew Dirst:
Sometime between the mid 1720s and 1730, George Frideric Handel composed "Silete venti" for an unknown purpose. Having settled definitively in London years before, he was under no obligation to compose Latin church music; scholars speculate instead that this lavish work might have been written as a favor for an Italian opera singer or perhaps for an important patron during a return visit to Italy in 1729. Adapting several movements from earlier works of his own, including one of the Chandos Anthems, Handel returned to "Silete venti" several years later to borrow a few of its arias for the second version of "Esther." Such was the practice of many composers during this era: good music could always be repurposed.
Like Handel’s earlier Latin motets, "Silete venti" is a solo vehicle for soprano, accompanied in this case by a full ensemble of oboes, bassoon, strings, and continuo. Exceptionally fine text setting distinguishes it from Handel’s other motets, however, putting it on a plane alongside the composer’s best operas and oratorios.
The work begins with a French-style overture in two large sections, the first slow and majestic and the second fast and fugal. Notwithstanding the conventional start, a surprise follows: interrupting the cascades of notes, the soprano commands the orchestra (“the winds”) to be silent. With the remainder of her opening text delivered as accompanied recitative, a mood of rapturous calm descends. The first aria, whose text conflates sacred love (agape) with erotic love (eros), is a poignant mix of melodic whisps and supple chromatic turns. The second recitative/aria pair makes its offering of “garlands…blossoms,” even “the regal palm frond” with increasing ardor, including a strongly contrasting second section in which Handel obliges the anonymous poet’s call for the “winds to stir” with elaborate undulations in the orchestra. The composer’s response to the libretto’s last word is similarly inspired; one hardly wants this ecstatic gigue to conclude, despite its incessant repetition of “Alleluia.”
© Matthew Dirst
About Ars Lyrica Houston:
Founded in 1998 by harpsichordist and conductor Matthew Dirst, Ars Lyrica Houston presents a diverse array of music in its original context while creating connections to contemporary life. Imaginative programming features neglected gems alongside familiar masterworks, and extracts the dramatic potential, emotional resonance, and expressive power of music. Its local subscription series, according to the Houston Chronicle, “sets the agenda” for early music in Houston. Ars Lyrica appears regularly at international festivals and conferences because of its distinctive focus, and its pioneering efforts in the field of authentic performance have won international acclaim.
In its 2023/24 season, Ars Lyrica Houston celebrates 20 Years of Magic with a season dedicated to musical wizardry of various kinds, from wondrous choral works by Carissimi and Charpentier to miraculous chamber pieces by Biber and Bach. The milestone 20th anniversary season closes with a new production of a “magic” opera, Handel’s Amadigi di Gaula, in its Houston premiere.
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