The final performance of our residency at Wigmore Hall, The A-Z of Italian Baroque, takes place in London on 25 June: JOIN US!
La Profezia d’Eliseo nell’assedio di Samaria Music: Attilio Ariosti (1666 – 1729) Libretto: Giovanni Battista Neri (1660 – 1726)
The cast will be: Ioram, Rè di Samaria (Joram, King of Samaria) – Neal Davies Capitano di Ioram (Joram’s Captain) – Hilary Summers Eliseo Profeta (The Prophet Elisha) – Alessandro Fisher Prima Donna (First Woman) – Julia Doyle Seconda Donna (Second Woman) – Mhairi Lawson
La Serenissima Violin/Director – Adrian Chandler
Warlike trumpets introduce the scene in Samaria, the ancient capital of Israel. Besieged by Ben-Hadad’s Syrian army and with little food, the populace is starving to death. Two women are hatching a plan, whereby they agree to feed upon their own children…
Eliseo was performed in the Imperial Chapel during Lent, 1705. Giovanni Battista Neri’s text draws on a grisly section from the Old Testament’s Book of Kings (II, 6.24-7.20), whose action, inspired by the sieges of the War of the Spanish Succession (in which the Holy Roman Empire was heavily embroiled) takes place in a besieged city.
Adrian describes this work as “remarkable”. Book your tickets here!
Crossing Borders will be released on 13 June. Pre-order here.
We’re hugely grateful to John Osborn CBE and Continuo Foundation, as well as many other generous donors, for helping us to make this album a reality.
Adrian writes: Telemann controversially declared in his 1718 autobiography that his concertos ‘mostly smell of France’; he complained that the form generally contained ‘many difficulties and awkward leaps…little harmony and even poorer melody’.
There can be little doubt that these scathing remarks were directed principally at certain celebrated Italian composers, but the irony is that Telemann’s concertos imitate the Italian style so well, fused as they are with German, French and Polish elements in the manner of his famous ‘mixed taste’. His 1740 autobiography indicates a change of heart asserting that of all the national styles, he had absorbed that of Italy the last. His eventual acceptance of the Italian style led to many such works being performed at his public concerts and for concertos by Vivaldi, Albinoni and Tessarini being included as entr’acte entertainments during performances of his comic opera Pimpinone in Hamburg, 1725.
The album brings together music by Brescianello, Durante, Sieber, Telemann, Vivaldi in a potpourri of national styles.
We’re preparing our Vivaldi 8+ booklet & final edit now so it’s the final chance to sponsor a track on our 30th Anniversary Opus 8 project!
Upcoming Concerts
We’re finalising plans for concerts in the autumn – including return visits to Liverpool, London (St Martin in the Fields) and Vinehall. Details of our concerts are always available on our events page.
7:30pm, 25th June 2025 Wigmore Hall, London La Profezia d’Eliseo nell’assedio di Samaria Tickets from £18
7:30pm, 23rd October St Martin-in-the-Fields, London Vivaldi Mandolin Concerto with Raffaele La Ragione Tickets from £10
Wigmore review
Our last concert at Wigmore Hall was reviewed enthusiastically by The Arts Desk which concluded by saying:
“All in all, this was a fascinating flying visit to late 17th/early 18th century Bologna. Though the subject matter was esoteric, the atmosphere was as boisterously convivial as it was erudite. The encore, the Sinfonia in D was by Chelleri – a composer whose achievements included surviving an assassination attempt. It was a vivacious conclusion to an evening that sent the audience members out into the streets with a spring in their step and the sound of rebellious trumpets ringing in their ears.” Thank you for your continued support – it’s thanks to your interest and generosity that Adrian and I are able to keep La Serenissima afloat.
