KUALA LUMPUR: After a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic, the KLPAC Orchestra will be collaborating with the Wicked Music People to on a new concert from March 10 to 13 at Pentas 1 of the Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre.
Titled Baroque Elegance, music lovers will be treated to the dramatic music filled with grandeur and richness from the period which saw the blooming of orchestras and operas.
The upcoming concert will feature the works of Arcangelo Corelli, Antonio Vivaldi and Johann Sebastian Bach performed by a 45-strong orchestra under the baton of music director and resident conductor Lee Kok Leong.
Baroque Elegance will open with a piece published more than 300 years ago, Arcangelo Corelli's Concerto Grosso Op.6 No. 4.
Unlike his peers, Corelli focused on instrumental music instead of operas or sacred vocal music and his works represent the Old Italian style.
Next will be the all-time Baroque favourite, Antonio Vivaldi's The Four Seasons, no doubt his best-known work and one of the most recognised pieces from that era.
Considered radical at that time because it was one of the earliest examples of programme music, which is music tied to text or in this case four sonnets.
The highlight of this piece is of course the four violin solos — that will be performed by Dorothy Kay, Keng Xin Tian, Ham Kay Lyn and Andrea Sim — bringing the audience through Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter.
The other star of the Baroque period is not in the form of a composer or composition but a stringed keyboard instrument known as a harpsichord. Though it could often be heard in the Baroque period, there are only a handful in Malaysia.
Thanks to the Wicked Music People, a local ensemble that specialises in early music from the late Renaissance and Baroque period, audiences will now be able to hear one live.
Passionate about performing on period instruments, these talented musicians built their very own harpsichord here in Malaysia in one of their member's dining room.
Audiences will be able to hear it during Johann Sebastian Bach's Harpsichord Concerto in D minor BWV 1052, 1st Movement performed by Dr Chang Yi-Li, an Early Music expert and enthusiast who has a Master of Music degree in Early Music from the Longy School of Music of Bard College.
Winner of the prestigious Roman Totenberg Award, she has performed at the Boston Early Music Festival, The Cambridge Society of Early Music and also at Dewan Filharmonik Petronas.
The concert ends with another piece by Antonio Vivaldi, titled L'estro Armonico No. 8.
This double concerto features KLPAC Orchestra's long-time concertmistress and member, Lee Hai Lin, who is also part of the Wicked Music People along with fellow member and violinist Kenneth Lim.
This show is supported by The Actors Studio and MyCreative Ventures.
Tickets for the showcase can be purchased via https://bit.ly/baroque-elegance (no phone and over-the-counter sales).
Tickets are priced at RM40 flat during the early bird promotion until Feb 28. Regular tickets are RM60.
Call 03-40479000 or WhatsApp +6018 2277212 for details.
For the latest Covid-19 SOP guide, go to http://bit.ly/klpac_covid19_updates.
Each ticket sold goes towards keeping KLPAC and The Actors Studio afloat. The public can also make a donation via www.klpac.org/donations.