Pro Musica Rara Presents SuperBach Sunday: Bach's Oboe

Make Pro Musica Rara part of your pre-game festivities! Baltimore's premier early music ensemble presents SuperBach Sunday: Bach's Oboe featuring Gonzalo Ruiz on baroque oboe, on February 2, 2014 at 3:30 p.m. at the Towson University Center for the Arts, 8000 York Rd, Towson, MD. There will be a pre-concert talk at 2:30 p.m.

Now a Baltimore tradition--last year the musicians dressed or accessorized in purple to support the Ravens--this year's SuperBach Sunday features Gonzalo Ruiz on baroque oboe. According to Ruiz, who recently recorded the complete oboe concertos of Bach with the Portland Baroque Orchestra, Bach and the oboe had a special relationship: "Bach used the oboe as no other composer had before, treating it as an equal partner to the voice, and showering it with lyrically and technically demanding roles. It is generally supposed that many of Bach's oboe works are lost forever. No chamber music survives, and five concertos have had to be reconstructed from later versions for harpsichord. Still, on the evidence of the sacred works, the oboe must have been Bach's favorite instrument, receiving over 220 solos in about as many cantatas. The next contender would be violin, coming in at a comparatively measly 84 solos. This affection extended in at least two cases to the players themselves: Bach was godfather to the children of both his main Leipzig oboists, Gleditsch and Kornagel."

Ruiz will be joined by Greg Mulligan, Cynthia Roberts, Ivan Stefanovic, violin; Sharon Pineo Myer, viola; Allen Whear, cello; and Dongsok Shin, harpsichord. They will perform Bach's Sinfonia, BWV 156; Concerto for Oboe and Violin, BWV 1060; Concerto for Oboe in F Major, BWV 1053; and Telemann's Concerto for Three Violins.

Tickets are available through the Towson Box Office, 410-704-2787(ARTS), during business hours or at the door, or visit www.towson.edu/artscalendar/boxoffice.asp. Student discounts are available.

Pro Musica Rara is a period instrument chamber music ensemble performing baroque, classical, and early romantic repertoire. Founded in 1974, its musicians include Baltimore area professionals, early music specialists from throughout the eastern seaboard, and world-renowned guest artists. As Artists-in-Residence at Towson University Department of Music, PMR presents an annual subscription series and offers pre-concert lectures, master classes, and open dress rehearsals for students. In recent years, PMR has also given performances in important area venues such as the Walters Art Museum, Baltimore Museum of Art, Peabody Conservatory, and the National Gallery in Washington, D.C. More information is available at www.promusicarara.org.