MUSIC

As Ars Lyrica enters its 7th season at the Hobby Center’s acoustically superlative Zilkha Hall, it continues to break new ground both in Houston and in the international early music community.The ensemble’s upcoming 2011-2012 season, entitled Transformations, explores this theme on various levels —emotional, spiritual, physical, even intellectual—and features collaborations with world-renowned musicians and dancers. Artistic Director Matthew Dirst is “delighted to be able to offer our audiences exceptional musicmaking in a beautiful space, and is especially excited about this season’s lineup of artists.”

The Ars Lyrica 2011-12 season of Transformations begins with Paradise Found, a journey from worldly torment to heavenly ecstasy. This program features internationally-acclaimed French-Italian soprano Céline Ricci in her Houston début, with core Ars Lyrica string and continuo players, in music of Domenico Scarlatti, François Couperin, and G. F. Handel’s recently discovered “Gloria.”

Scheduled Program:
Domenico Scarlatti: Pur nel sonno almen tal’ora
Couperin and Rameau: Instrumental works
G. F. Handel: Gloria in excelsis Deo

 “Ricci…is a sensation, vital on stage and a dazzling coloratura. ”
— Los Angeles Times

“a stunning virtuosity” —Opera Magazine

“Lots of bold, bright, nosethumbing fun.” —Records International