FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Jordan Witherspoon
Marketing Director
Phone: (713)533-0080
jwitherspoon@mercurybaroque.org

The Woodlands, TX - On February 13th at 2:00pm Mercury Baroque returns to The Woodlands for the second time this season with a stylish performance entitled 8 Seasons. The program juxtaposes Vivaldi’s famed Four Seasons with the Four Seasons by Argentinean Tango composer Astor Piazzolla. The performance will take place at the acoustically marvelous Performing Arts Center at The John Cooper School in The Woodlands, TX. Tickets and information can be found online at www.MercuryBaroque.org or by phone at (713) 533-0080 during regular business hours. 

Mercury Baroque’s 8 Seasons pairs Vivaldi’s famed Four Seasons with the Four Seasons of Astor Piazzolla. Jonathan Godfrey, Mercury Baroque’s Concertmaster, will be the violin soloists. Denis Plante, brother of Mercury Baroque’s founder Antoine Plante, will perform on the Bandoneon, an accordion-like instrument typical of Argentinean tango music. Mercury Baroque recorded its 8 Seasons program in 2003 and the CD is now one of the orchestra’s best sellers.

While at first the thought of pairing Vivaldi and Piazzolla, Argentina’s greatest tango composer, might sound strange for a Baroque orchestra, there is a logical connection. “Piazzolla was introduced to Bach at a young age while living in New York”, explains Antoine Plante, Mercury Baroque’s Artistic Director. “Through his formal studies of composition he became very well acquainted with the Baroque style and some of those compositional techniques can be heard in his tango music.”

Both Piazzolla and Vivaldi’s Four Seasons are programmatic works, meaning they were written to evoke a certain scene to audiences. Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, originally written to go along with four sonnets, use musical sounds and textures to represent the seasons. Piazzolla’s work, however, transports the listener to the streets of Buenos Aires.

Compositional theory aside, however, “Piazzolla is just a lot of fun to play”, says Plante. “There are shared elements of elegance in passion in both Baroque and Tango music and our audience loves it.” Many of Mercury Baroque’s musicians enjoy tango dancing as a hobby.

The 8 Seasons is Mercury Baroque’s second performance in The Woodlands of the season following their stirring performance of Handel’s Messiah last December. The wonderful acoustics of the Performing Arts Center at The John Cooper School allow the audience a wonderfully up-close and exciting concert experience.

Now in its 10th Season, Mercury Baroque has charmed audiences and critics the world over with its passionate and exciting performances of Baroque music on period accurate instruments. Originally founded as a chamber ensemble, Mercury has since grown into a full orchestra of young, dynamic musicians, performing a subscription series of concerts in downtown Houston, other Houston-area communities and touring both domestically and internationally. In addition to frequent performances, Mercury Baroque is also dedicated to educating future audiences and training the city’s future musicians. Mercury’s educational outreach programs have reached more than 10,000 children in the past 5 years alone.

Mercury Baroque’s 8 Seasons Performances:

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