The Handel Opera Project will present two gems, one familiar and one much less so, in the sublime space and superb acoustic of Bernard Maybeck’s celebrated First Church of Christ, Scientist, Berkeley’s only National Historic Landmark structure.
In his time, Louis-Nicolas Clérambault (1676–1749) was the undisputed master of the French Baroque solo cantata; yet his work has only been rediscovered in recent decades. His Léandre et Héro vividly tells the ancient story of the lovesick Leander, who nightly swam the Hellespont to be with his beloved Hero, until both were overtaken by tragedy. Soprano Daphné Touchais sings this brief masterwork, with the Handel Opera Project orchestra directed by Project founder William G. Ludtke. One of the inexhaustible treasures of chamber music follows, as the ensemble’s strings are joined by clarinetist Karen Wells in W. A. Mozart’s Clarinet Quintet in A Major, K. 581. Both works are enhanced by Maybeck’s unique creation, soaring, yet remarkably intimate.