In an exciting pairing of countertenor and soprano voices, Take2 (Adrian Boorman and Zoe Lethbridge) is performing in the stunning setting of The Picture Gallery at The Foundling Museum in the heart of London, which today houses a collection of fine art and is home to the largest private collection of Handel memorabilia and publications. Built on the site of the original Foundling Hospital, the city's first home for abandoned children, founded in 1739, the Rococo splendour of the museum's interior has been reconstructed from the building where hospital governors and benefactors Hogarth and Handel often dined and which once echoed to the composer's annual performances of Messiah in aid of the charity, still active today as the Coram Foundation.
They will be presenting 'Heroes and Heroines', a varied and entertaining one hour programme of scenes from George Frideric Handel's Opera and Oratorio works, both those well and lesser known. In solo arias and duets the duo will paint vivid pictures of besotted lovers, battle-scarred heroes and feisty heroines demonstrating Handel's masterful command of his characters' psychology, summed up by his obituary in the London Times: 'He surpassed the power of words in expressing the various Passions of the Human Heart'.
The performance concludes with a tribute to one of the earliest composers of opera, Claudio Monteverdi, and his famous and popular love duet Pur ti miro from L'incoronazione di Poppea. This event is a highly unusual opportunity to experience the unique interplay and blend of male and female voices singing in the same octave, much as those first Baroque audiences would have enjoyed, and is one not to be missed.
Give yourself an afternoon treat and enjoy a trip to the 'theatre' in the company of these two acclaimed singers accompanied by prize winning conductor and director, Alexander Chaplin.
“I thought it was an outstanding performance of great depth and power …..a wonderful start to our new programme of music across the Badbury Group of Churches” (Revd. David Williams – Vicar St Giles Church, Great Coxwell, Oxon - April 2012)
"Adrian has an incredible warmth and clarity of tone, subtly controlled and always putting the music, in all its glory, first" (Oxford Music Festival 2011)