One World Symphony: Baroque[n] Hearts

Baroque[n] Hearts

One World Symphony
Sung Jin Hong, Artistic Director and Conductor
One World Symphony Vocal Artists

BAROQUE
Johann Sebastian Bach: Ich habe genug, BWV 82
Henry Purcell: from Dido and Aeneas
George Frideric Handel: from Rinaldo, Giulio Cesare in Egitto

NEO-BAROQUE
Paul Hindemith: from Marienleben (1948)*
Ernest Bloch: from Concerto Grosso No. 1 (1925)

NEO-BAROQUE-POP
One Republic: Secrets (2009)**

*world premiere arrangement for voice and chamber orchestra by Sung Jin Hong
**world premiere arrangement for voice and chamber orchestra by Andrew Struck-Marcell

Rubbing salt in the wounds of a broken heart, an evil sorceress orchestrates the fall of Carthage by destroying the love and hopes of its melancholy queen in Dido and Aeneas. Almirena laments the loss of her freedom and her lover in Handel’s Rinaldo, and Cleopatra expresses anguish that she has lost her lover in Giulio Cesare. Bach’s Ich habe genug (I have enough) captures a man’s sense of humility and fulfillment when he meets and holds the infant Jesus. One World Symphony presents its own unique version of One Republic’s hit song Secrets and two Neo-Baroque gems for the audience, with the contemplative and soaring Marienleben (Life of the Virgin Mary) by Paul Hindemith and the fiery and sublime Concerto Grosso No. 1 by Ernest Bloch.

Read Confessions from Baroque[n] Hearts

“Dido’s Lament and the aria Ah, Belinda are my go-to operatic breakup songs. They permeate my soul with their dulcet, heavy tones and musical ornaments reminiscent of sobs. Listening to these songs makes me want to grab my friends and regale them with stories of my most recent heartbreak as I drown my sorrows in a tub of chocolate ice cream. Like the chocolate, Dido’s words are dark, rich, and full of depth while still infusing our hearts with sweetness. The audience should come experience One World Symphony’s Baroque[n] Hearts because listening to people complain about their failed love lives is boring, but watching musicians pour out representations of universal human grief in waves of orchestral sound is the epitome of sophistication. Consider this the Baroque version of Taylor Swift.” — Eva Sun (Dido, Purcell)