Pastorella

About

Violinist and director Meret Lüthi unveils “Pastorella” with the renowned baroque orchestra Les Passions de l’Âme. Center stage is the chalumeau, an early single-reed instrument and ancestor of the clarinet that largely vanished from 18th‑century concert life. Concertos by Johann Friedrich Fasch and Georg Philipp Telemann bring the instrument back to life, performed by clarinetists Joan Calabuig Gaspar and Álvaro Iborra Jiménez. Alto soloist and 2024 Bach Prize winner Lara Morger sings two Vivaldi arias from Nisi Dominus (RV 608) and the sacred drama Juditha triumphans (RV 644). The program opens with Johann Heinrich Schmelzer’s “Balletti à 4 in D major ‘Pastorella’,” and includes Schmelzer’s chamber piece “La bella pastora” and Tartini’s Violin Sonata in A major Op. 1 No. 13 “Pastorale.” Framed by the Solothurn Baroque Days, Lüthi directs from the baroque violin.