HAUNTED SPIRITS Will Present Mad Scenes and Tartini at Ars Lyrica Houston

 Ars Lyrica Houston marks Halloween with Haunted Spirits, a devilish program of mad scenes and eerie instrumental music spanning Henry Purcell to C. P. E. Bach, on Saturday, October 31 at 5 pm in Zilkha Hall at the Hobby Center. Costumes are encouraged.

The program opens with Jean-Féry Rebel's Les Elemens, whose famous “Chaos” sounds every note of the D minor scale simultaneously by the entire ensemble — a moment of primordial disorder from which the four elements gradually emerge and take shape. It's both a remarkable piece of musical storytelling and one of the weirdest pieces in the Baroque repertoire.

Mad scenes were a standard feature of Baroque opera, giving composers and singers the chance to portray completely unhinged emotional states, with music that could shift violently from tenderness to hysteria and back again. Mezzo-soprano Nikola Printz, described by the San Francisco Chronicle as “vibrant and tonally resplendent” and “richly eloquent,” makes a much-anticipated Ars Lyrica debut, delivering mad scenes from Handel's Alcina and Hercules with drama and panache.

Violinist Manami Mizumoto, returns to Houston after her acclaimed 2024 Ars Lyrica appearance, braves Giuseppe Tartini's fearsome “Devil's Trill” Sonata, said to have come to the composer in a dream. Rounding out the program are Purcell's “Bess of Bedlam” mad scene and a symphony by C. P. E. Bach full of odd digressions and nervous energy.

“This was an era fascinated by emotional extremes, when grief, jealousy, or supernatural terror overwhelm the rational mind,” says Artistic Director Matthew Dirst. “Tartini's music is genuinely diabolical, and it's ideally suited to our demon violinist Manami Mizumoto. Come in costume — this is going to be a night to remember.”

Haunted Spirits

Saturday, October 31st at 5 PM
Zilkha Hall, Hobby Center for the Performing Arts

Featuring

Nikola Printz, mezzo-soprano
Manami Mizumoto, violin

Tickets