2011-2012: Magnificat's 20th Season

Palo Alto • Berkeley • San Francisco

"Magnificat's best performances over the past decade and a half have always had a sense of adventure about them. Stewart has a knack for discovering little-known gems and introducing them with the excited air of a musical explorer." San Francisco Chronicle 04.27.10

To mark 20 seasons of concerts in the Bay Area, Magnificat featured timeless masterpieces by four composers that dominated the music of the 17th Century: Marc-Antoine Charpentier, Iacomo Carissimi, Heinrich Schütz and Claudio Monteverdi. In reviving some of our favorite programs, we celebrated not only the genius and sheer beauty of the music but the the many extraordinary musicians who contributed to Magnificat's success, many of whom will also performed in the concerts.

For our programs we chose composers and works that have defined Magnificat's repertoire and style: Charpentier's eloquent setting of the Orpheus legend, Carissimi's poignant account of Jephte and his daughter, and selections from Monteverdi's monumental Eighth Book of Madrigals. The season also included a celebratory co-production of Schütz's beloved Christmas Story, as we joined in marking the 35th season of The San Francisco Early Music Society.