Cupid's Ground Bass

Oxford Festival of the Arts EARLY MUSIC DAY in collaboration with Continuo Foundation

Known for their energetic and passionate performances, Bellot Ensemble present their Cupid’s Ground Bass debut album programme, which explores the extremities of love, through the groundbreaking works of 17th-century Italy, highlighting both the vocal and instrumental innovations of the time. The concert will include not only some of the most beautiful arias from this period sung by the incredibly talented singers, soprano Lucine Musaelian and tenor Kieran White, but also the group’s own instrumental diminutions and arrangements, often over the wonderful ‘ground bass’ themes popular at this time.

Bellot Ensemble
Lucine Musaelian – Soprano & Viola da Gamba
Kieran White – Tenor
Edmund Taylor – Violin
Maxim del Mar - Violin
Nathan Giorgetti - Viola da Gamba
Daniel Murphy – Theorbo
Matthew Brown – Harpsichord

Programme
Giovanni Kapsberger Toccata prima
Francesco Cavalli ‘Misero Apollo’ (Gli amori d’Apollo e di Dafne)
Sinfonia and ‘Ombra mai fu’ (Il Xerse)
Tarquinio Merula Chiaccona
Claudio Monteverdi ‘Oblivion soave’ (L’incoronazione di Poppea)
Barbara Strozzi ‘Amor dormiglione’
Cavalli Canzon/Sonata à 3
‘Delizie, contenti’ and ‘Se dardo pungente’ (Il Giasone)
Marco Uccellini Aria quinta sopra la Bergamasca à 3
Strozzi ‘Che si può fare’
Monteverdi Zefiro torna e di soavi accenti