Paradise Toss'd: Heavenly Queens, Earthly Crowns, and the Smoldering Embers of Rule

The Camerata San Luca

Jessica Gould, soprano

Gonzalo Ruiz, oboe & baroque guitar

Dongmyung Ahn & Marina Fragoulis, violins

Cameron Welke, archlute

Andrea Damiano, theorbo

Adam Young, viola da gamba

Heaven and Earth go back-to-back as two Marian Anthems frame a trio of tortured queens. Arias of Stradella’s conflicted Ester, Monteverdi’s dejected Ottavia, and Handel’s scheming Agrippina trace an arc from doubt to misery to bloodthirsty ambition, as two prayers to the Queen of Heaven flip from calm to turbulence on either side.

Opening with a courtly homage and concluding with an impassioned plea, the throne is more prison than prize in this concert devoted to monarchs on the verge. 

Music of Handel, Kapsberger, Monteverdi, Rossi, Stradella, ​& Strozzi.

Presented by Salon/Sanctuary Concerts.