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The Folger Spotlight

ENCORES: ‘L’hyver (Winter)’ performed by Folger Consort (2015)

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Folger ENCORES, red theater seats fading into darkness
Folger ENCORES, red theater seats fading into darkness

Folger Public Programs is pleased to present ENCORES, a weekly online series highlighting past performances and recalling the rich history of programming on the historic Folger stage. As many arts and cultural institutions remain closed during this time, these ENCORES provide a way to connect and revisit the breadth of Folger offerings with a wider audience.

ENCORES presents

Folger Consort
‘L’hyver (Winter)’ from Scherzi Armonici sopra le Quattro Stagioni dell’Anno
by Giovanni Antonio Guido
Performed as part of The Season Bids Us: Christmas Music featuring Guido’s Four Seasons
Recorded at the Lutheran Church of the Reformation, December 2015

Performed by

  • Julien Chauvin, Violin
  • Robert Eisenstein, Violin
  • Risa Browder, Violin
  • Annie Loud, Violin
  • Caroline G. Levy, Viola
  • Leslie Nero, Viola
  • John Moran, Cello
  • Wade Davis, Cello
  • Andrew Arceci, Bass Violone
  • Webb Wiggins, Harpsichord

The concert also featured soprano Rosa Lamoreaux. You can view the program from that concert here.

Read the introduction by cellist Wade Davis:

Hello and welcome to Folger ENCORES. I’m Wade Davis and I’m so thrilled to be able to speak with you today. The Folger has been sharing selections from their plays, music, and readings with you in this ENCORES series. This week, we’re revisiting a Folger Consort performance titled The Season Bids Us. I joined the Consort’s Baroque orchestra and played cello at these concerts. In this series of performances from 2015, the Consort and I performed Scherzi armonici sopra le quattro stagioni dell’anno, or more simply: The Four Seasons.

Composed by the Italian violinist Giovanni Antonio Guido, these pieces were first performed in the early 18th century at Versailles and were a huge hit with French audiences. It is not certain whether this set of concerti preceded the famous Four Seasons of Antonio Vivaldi. In this selection, you will hear the first half of Guido’s “Winter” concerto. In just a few minutes of music, Guido gives us a vivid depiction of wintry frost, cold winds, and the warm glow of sunshine. And I remember specifically the warm glow of my Folger family, and how lovely it always is to play with them, and especially for Christmas with Julien Chauvin and Rosa Lamoreaux. It was just heavenly, and it’s truly something I will always, always remember, especially around Christmastime. Please be sure to join us again for these weekly ENCORES, highlighting all that the Folger has to offer. Thank you.

Encores LogoCheck back each Friday for a new “from the archives” performance, introduced by some of our favorite artists, showcasing the best of Folger Theatre, Folger Consort, O.B. Hardison Poetry, and lectures.

Folger Theatre

Folger Theatre is the vibrant center piece of the Folger’s public programs. With a focus on Shakespeare, Folger Theatre produces plays reflecting the breadth of the library’s peerless collection. In this unique setting, with collaborations between artists and experts, Folger Theatre produces innovative stagings that have been commended as “breathtakingly original...strikingly contemporary” (The Washington Post). Led since 1991 by Artistic Producer Janet Alexander Griffin, Folger Theatre has received 135 nominations and 23 Helen Hayes Awards for excellence in acting, direction, design, and production. During the recent seasons Folger Theatre has received the Outstanding Resident Play Award for its productions of Measure for Measure in 2007, Hamlet in 2011 and The Taming of the Shrew in 2013. Other highlights from Folger Theatre’s producing history include these Helen Hayes Award recipients or nominees for outstanding production: Romeo and Juliet (2013), Orestes: A Tragic Romp (2010), Henry VIII (2010), Arcadia (2009), Macbeth (2008), The Two Gentlemen of Verona (2006), Melissa Arctic (2006), She Stoops to Conquer (2002), Shakespeare’s R & J (2001), Much Ado About Nothing (1998), and Romeo and Juliet (1997). — View all posts by Folger Theatre