La Dolce Vita

Saturday, October 28, 2023 • 2:00 pm

Saint Leonard's Church
320 Hanover Street
Boston, MA 02113

La Dolce Vita celebrates the legacy of Italian composers from the Renaissance through contemporary composition. The program, set as a musical tasting menu, engages the listeners in a diverse program of Italian music that will be performed in Boston’s oldest Italian church, Saint Leonard’s in the North End.

Antipasti

Exultate Deo adjutori
Alessandro Scarlatti (1660–1725)

Primi

Ego Flos Campi
Surge Propera Mea
Rafaella Aleotti (c. 1575–1620)

Si ch'io vorrei morire
Ah! Dolente partita
Claudio Monteverdi (1567–1643)

Secondi

Domine ad adiuvandum me festina
Antonio Vivaldi (1678–1741)

Dixit Dominus
Alessandro Scarlatti (1660–1725)

Te Deum
Domenico Scarlatti (1685–1757)

Confitebor tibi Domine, P. 66
Giovanni Battista Pergolesi (1710–1736)

Laetatus sum
Antonio Vivaldi

Contorni

Ave Maria from “Quattro Pezzi Sacri”
Giuseppe Verdi (1813–1901)

Dolci

Giunone, cantata for the birthday of Ferdinando IV
Gioachino Rossini (1792–1868)

Robert Duff

Music Director Finalist and Guest Conductor

Robert Duff 260.jpg Dr. Robert Duff is in his eighth year at Brandeis University as Professor of the Practice of Choral Music. At Brandeis University he oversees the choral and vocal program, conducts the Brandeis choral ensembles, teaches conducting and choral methods, and serves as the Performance Track advisor for vocalists. Dr. Duff also serves as the Director of Music at Saint Cecilia Church in Boston and is the conductor emeritus of the Handel Society at Dartmouth College.

A strong proponent of new music, Dr. Duff has given several world premieres of works for both orchestral and choral forces. He previously served as Council to the New Hampshire Council on the Arts and has served on the faculties of Pomona College, Claremont Graduate University and Mount St. Mary’s College. He holds degrees in conducting, piano, and voice from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, Temple University, and the University of Southern California.