La decollazione di San Giovanni Battista
An oratorio by Maria Margherita Grimani
March 22, 2024 | Gannon Concert Hall
Herodias presented with the Head of the Baptist by Salome by Andrea Ansaldo (1630)
“A stellar lineup of vocal soloists supported by an elegant baroque band”
Chicago Classical Review
“Bass-baritone Christian Pursell, making his Haymarket debut, sang the role of Herod with a rich, rotund timbre, capturing the king of Judea’s pompous self-satisfaction at his birthday honors”
Chicago Classical Review
“Haymarket mainstay Erica Schuller was inspired as Herodias, deploying a generous soprano to capture her aggrieved character’s shifting moods.Her outraged suffering at John’s accusations was entirely convincing, and her ecstasy at the prospect of her defamer’s murder struck the right sadistic note, all put across with a lush, fluent tone”
Chicago Classical Review
“Imperious” and “sequined” are words seldom found in the same sentence, but they capture alto Fleur Barron’s dynamic pants portrayal of John the Baptist”
Chicago Classical Review
“[Eric] Ferring’s powerful tenor captured the bureaucrat’s joy at carrying out and imposing orders, and was at his finest in a surging aria sycophantically singing Salome’s praises”
Chicago Classical Review
“Salome herself appears only in the oratorio’s second part, and was expertly rendered by soprano Kristin Knutson Berka”
Chicago Classical Review
Haymarket resurrected this dramatically macabre oratorio by forgotten female composer Maria Margherita Grimani in its first-known performance in over 300 years
Performance:
March 22, 2024 at 7:30pm
Pre-performance lecture: Presented at 6:45pm
Performance runtime: 2 hours, including one 20-minute intermission
Gannon Concert Hall
Holtschneider Performance Center at DePaul University
2330 N. Halsted Ave., Chicago, IL 60614
Haymarket presents Maria Margherita Grimani’s 1715 oratorio La decollazione di San Giovanni Battista. At the feast of Herod, the beautiful princess Salome requests the head of John the Baptist as a punishment for insulting her mother Herodias. Haymarket’s virtuosic vocal and instrumental soloists bring Grimani’s feverish tale of bloodthirsty revenge to life in the work’s modern premiere.
The head of Saint John the Baptist by Giovan Francesco Maineri (1502)
Hailed as “a knockout performer” by The Times, Singaporean-British mezzo Fleur Barron brings her burnished voice to her Haymarket debut in the title role of the martyred Saint John the Baptist. Also in their company debuts, Haymarket welcomes bass-baritone Christian Pursell as Herod, the king who is reluctant to execute John the Baptist, and Eric Ferring as the savage confidant who pushes for the saint’s brutal execution. Radiant sopranos Erica Schuller and Kristen Knutson Berka return to Haymarket as the scorned mother and daughter out for blood.
Haymarket founder and artistic director Craig Trompeter leads a chamber ensemble of strings, woodwinds, and continuo drawn from Haymarket’s acclaimed orchestra of period instruments. Lute legend Nigel North returns for this performance.
Maria Margherita Grimani’s life is shrouded in mystery, but her few surviving works pulse with passionate melodies and virtuosic dramatic vigor.
The head of Saint John the Baptist presented to Salome by Peter Paul Rubens (1609)
Synopsis: During the celebratory feast of Herod, Saint John the Baptist reviles Herod and his second wife Herodias for their sinful marriage and calls them back to a righteous path. The beautiful princess Salome, daughter of Herodias, dances seductively for her stepfather. When he offers her any gift in his kingdom as a prize for her dancing, she requests that the head of Saint John be brought to her on a silver charger. Herod reluctantly orders the execution of Saint John who rejoices defiantly in his coming martyrdom.
Purchase Tickets
All Haymarket tickets are issued through the DePaul University School of Music box office. If you need ticketing assistance, please contact the Holtschneider Performance Center box office by email (musicboxoffice@depaul.edu) or by phone (773-325-5200). The box office is open Tuesday-Saturday, 10-3pm.
Salome asking Herod for the Head of Saint John the Baptist by Giovanni di Paolo (1455-60)
Check out this important work at Chicago’s world-renowned Art Institute of Chicago.
This painting depicts Salome as she receives the head of John the Baptist on a platter, the gruesome reward she chose for having pleased her stepfather, Herod, by performing a seductive dance. This episode from the New Testament had long been popular in Italian art, thanks to its combination of religiosity, violence, and eroticism. The most famous and successful Italian painter of his day, Guido Reni worked in Rome and then in Bologna, where his highly refined style and intensely spiritual subjects dominated. Despite its horrific subject matter, this unfinished work displays the graceful movement, delicate colors, and transparent paint application of Reni’s late style.
The Cast
SAN GIOVANNI BATTISTA
Fleur Barron
Mezzo-soprano
ERODE
Christian Pursell
Bass-baritone
ERODIADE
Erica Schuller
Soprano
CONFIDENTE D’ERODE
Eric Ferring
Tenor
SALOME
Kristin Knutson Berka
Soprano
The Instrumental Ensemble
Craig Trompeter, Leader & Cello
Jeri-Lou Zike, Violin
Martin Davids, Violin
Elizabeth Hagen, Viola
Jerry Fuller, Violone
Andrew Rosenblum, Harpsichord
Nigel North, Theorbo
Anne Bach, Oboe
Sally Jackson, Bassoon
Production Sponsors & Support
Lead Concert Sponsors: Amata Office Suites, Dr. Axel Kunzmann and Bruce Nelson, Gregory O'Leary and Patricia Kenney, Doug and Pam Walter, and Michael and Jessica Young
Supporting Concert Sponsor: Debra Cox
Foundational support comes from: The Paul M. Angell Foundation, Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation, The National Endowment for the Arts, The Illinois Arts Council Agency, Helen and Curtis Pinnell Foundation, and the Walder Foundation.
If you are interested in becoming a concert sponsor, please contact general director Chase Hopkins at chase@haymarketopera.org.
The feast of Herod by Peter Paul Rubens (1635-38)
If you require access support to fully participate or have any questions about accessibility, please contact us at info@haymarketopera.org. To ensure the best experience, please try to contact us at your earliest convenience.