The Night Shift at The Old Queen’s Head

The music in this concert will include arias by Purcell from The Fairy Queen and Come Ye Sons of Art, Esther and Nine German Arias by Handel plus instrumental pieces by Handel, Weiss and Geminiani.

It’s a match made in heaven as we shine a light on the glorious combination of oboe and soprano through the music of Purcell and Handel.

When Purcell wished to summon the Virtues and Graces in praise of Queen Mary II in the ode, Come Ye Sons of Art, he turned to the combination of oboe and soprano. He weaves the two voices seamlessly in one of his most affecting arias. In tonight’s Night Shift gig oboist Alexandra Bellamy and soprano Sofia Kirwan-Baez explore why this duo tugs at our heartstrings so effectively. It also provides a chance for the oboe to show it’s versatility as it takes on the persona of a violin, flute and even a trumpet.

Alexandra and Sofia are joined by Andrew Skidmore on cello and Sergio Bucheli on lute, in a setlist that includes ‘The Plaint’ and ‘Hark the echoing air’ from The Fairy Queen by Purcell, ‘Tune your harps’ from Esther, ‘Sünder Schaut mit Furcht’ from the Brockes Passion and ‘Meine Seele hört im Sehen’ from Nine German Arias by Handel, as well as extracts from a solo lute suite by Silvius Leopold Weiss, a cello sonata by Geminiani and Handel’s Oboe Sonata in F major.