Apollo’s Fire Baroque Ensemble will again thrill Tucson audiences on Tuesday, March 6, 2012 – 7:30 p.m. at this year’s Tucson Winter Chamber Music Festival.

“Mediterranean Nights: Sultry Songs & Passionate Dances
from 17th-century Italy & Spain,”
featuring music by Boccherini,
Ortiz, Merula, Uccellini and Castello.
Here they play Dario Castello’s Sonata No. 2 for Violin & Continuo, recorded at the 2011 Festival and featured on AFCM’s most recent CD.
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Castello (1590–1658) was a younger colleague of the great Claudio Monteverdi at
St. Mark’s in Venice. Although his publications are advertised as being “in stile
moderno,” he in fact blended styles by alternating passages in the older strictly
contrapuntal “canzona” style with contrasting sections in the newer freely expressive
style. His Sonata No. 2 develops with quick mood changes and culminates with a
powerful conclusion. With nothing but a bass line and melody indicated (no tempos,
dynamics, etc.), the piece can sound quite different with every performance.