Handel's Apollo e Dafne & Vivaldi's Bassoon Concerto in B-flat major | EMV

Jacqueline Woodley, soprano; Tyler Duncan, baritone; Pacific Baroque Orchestra directed by Alexander Weimann.
Presented by Early Music Vancouver. Filmed live September 15, 2023.
Donations are greatly appreciated www.earlymusic...
In Apollo e Dafne, Handel retells the ancient story of a boastful god’s frustrated love and a determined nymph’s unbending resistance. This dramatic cantata, completed after Handel’s return from Italy, exudes the fresh vitality and self-assurance of a newly famous composer at his homecoming and hints at the future glories of his opera career.
Alongside this colourful early work, the Pacific Baroque Orchestra presents Vivaldi’s Bassoon Concerto in B-flat major (“La Notte”) featuring bassonist Nathan Helgeson and Handel’s Overture to Agrippina.
Read the texts and translations here www.earlymusic...
00:29 Ouverture from Agrippina, HWV 6
George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)
Bassoon Concerto in B-flat major (“La Notte”), RV 501
Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741)
04:27 Largo - Andante molto
05:57 Presto (Fantasmi)
07:23 Presto
07:50 Gli Istromenti sempre pianissimo (Il Sonno)
10:25 Allegro (Sorge l’Aurora)
13:25 Apollo e Dafne (La terra è liberata), HWV 122
George Frideric Handel

[@barbarablakely9447]

Dare I say it! Apollo is a Stalker! Even as Dafne sings of loving "la libertà" he pursues her with godlike arrogance and entitlement. His manipulations and threats increase; she becomes angry and afraid. She calls him a profane God, even "no God." As she realizes she will have to risk death to protect her honour, he pledges to stalk, follow, run after her. Even after her only escape, to become a Laurel plant, he still seizes her to adorn his unrepentant brow!!

[@EarlyMusicVancouver]

Yes! Wonderful music, and lots of drama, and definitely stalker behaviour!!