The Jeffery Concerts continue the 2025-26 season with a program of Baroque and Early Classical music, October 19, at the Metropolitan Church.

Sensibilité: C. P. E. Bach and Vivaldi in the Age of “Emotional Hyperreactivity”
presented by Accademia de’ Dissonanti
Elinor Frey, cello and direction
Joseph Lanza, violin
Jessy Dubé, violin
Olivier Brault, viola
Eliana Zimmerman, cello
Joseph Phillips, contrabass
Mélisande McNabney, harpsichord

The royal courts of mid-eighteenth-century Berlin were lively crossroads for some of the greatest musicians of the time. The three cello concertos of C. P. E. Bach were composed in the early 1750s, likely for performance at one of the private academies or music societies that were popular in Berlin at the time. These tempestuous and dramatic concertos, replete with fragmented and blustery exchanges, bear witness to Bach’s vigorous imagination. A generation earlier, Antonio Vivaldi wrote highly imaginative concertos for strings at the Le Pietà conservatory in Venice. These surprising works are full of in-jokes and amusements to entertain his talented young students. In Vivaldi and Bach’s music, emotions are fleeting and instantaneous, and above all, the beauty of melody is emphasized.

The Accademia de’ Dissonanti, led by renowned cellist Elinor Frey, is an ensemble dedicated to exploring Baroque and early Classical repertoire. Under Frey’s leadership, they will bring an expressive and historically informed approach to their performance of the music of Vivaldi and C.P.E. Bach.

(Pictured: Elinor Frey, artistic director, cello, viola da gamba, viola d’arco)

PROGRAM
Antonio Vivaldi (1678 – 1741) – Concerto for Strings in G Minor, RV 152
Allegro molto – Andante molto e sempre pianissimo tutti – Allegro molto
J. S. Bach (1685 – 1750) – Harpsichord Toccata in D Major, BWV 912 
C. P. E. Bach (1714 – 1788) – Cello Concerto in B-flat Major, Wq 171
Allegretto – Adagio (Cadenza) – Allegro assai
Intermission 
Antonio Vivaldi – Concerto for Strings in D Minor, RV 127
Allegro – Largo – Allegro
C. P. E. Bach – Cello Concerto in A Minor, Wq 170
Allegro assai (cadenza) – Andante (cadenza) – Allegro assai

If You Go:

What: The Jeffery Concerts presents Sensibilité: C. P. E. Bach and Vivaldi in the Age of “Emotional Hyperreactivity”

Who: Accademia de’ Dissonanti

When: Sunday, October 19, 2025, at 3:00 pm.

Where: Metropolitan United Church, 468 Wellington Street, London, ON

Tickets: To purchase tickets for this concert, please contact the Grand Theatre online at https://tickets.grandtheatre.com/11649, by phone at 519-672-8800, or in person at 471 Richmond Street. Single tickets are also available at the door.

Students with a valid ID are welcome free of charge.

For more information about The Jeffery Concerts, visit https://www.jefferyconcerts.com/season2526/index.html

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To learn more about Accademia de’ Dissonanti, visit https://www.accademiadedissonanti.com/