Brian Thorsett & Jarring Sounds

Yesterday I attended the inaptly named Noontime Concerts at Old St. Mary's & heard mezzo Danielle Reutter-Harrah, tenor Brian Thorsett, violinist Natalie Carducci & lutenist Adam Cockerham in a pithy 45-minute program of 17th century music. It opened with Ms. Reutter-Harrah presenting 3 coy love songs in English by Henry Lawes. Her singing is controlled & steady, & she makes every note sound distinct. Tenor Brian Thorsett then sang 3 lovely Monteverdi songs. His voice is high, floating & focused, & his singing expressive & urgent. I especially enjoyed the plaintive "Et e pur dunque vero," in which the singer alternates with a violin. Mr. Thorsett & Natalie Carducci, playing a baroque violin, made it seem like a dialogue between the 2 of them. Ms. Carducci then peformed a melancholy Prelude by Kapsberger & a virtuosic sonata by Corelli. Her playing had a nice freedom & was a bit jaunty.  The program ended with Ms. Reutter-Harrah giving a firm performance of "Bess of Bedlam," a disconcerting mad scene by Purcell. Mr. Cockerham accompanied all the pieces, sounding calm & secure. He played a very tall theorbo with 2 sets of strings. The Noontime Concerts audience listened quietly & politely. Ms. Carducci had to compete with a jackhammer on the street during the Corelli sonata.


§ Noontime Concerts
Brian Thorsett, tenor and Jarring Sounds: Adam Cockerham, theorbo & lute
Danielle Reutter-Harrah, mezzo-soprano with Natalie Carducci, violin

Henry Lawes (1595 - 1662)
Loves Bachinall
On inconstancy
To his Chloris at parting
Love admits no delay
     Jarring Sounds

Claudio Monteverdi (1567 - 1643)
Ecco di dolci raggi il sol
Et e pur dunque vero
Quel sguardo sdegnesetto
    Brian Thorsett, tenor
    Adam Cockerham, theorbo
    Natalie Carducci, violin

Johann Hieronymus Kapsberger (c. 1580 - 1651)
Prelude No. 13 in C major
    Natalie Carducci, violin
    Adam Cockerham, theorbo

Arcangelo Corelli (1653 - 1715)
Violin Sonata III in C major, Op. 5, No. 3
    Natalie Carducci, violin
    Adam Cockerham, theorbo

Henry Purcell (1659 - 1695)
From Silent Shades, z730, “Bess of Bedlam”
    Jarring Sounds

February 18, 2014, 12:30pm
Old St. Mary's Cathedral