Barts Concert: Sonic Threads with Joanna Harries and Ensemble Augelletti
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Sonic Threads: A Fever Dream
“But the remedy, which of all others bids fairest to relieve the patient is musick: As it awakes the attention in the most agreeable manner, and relieves the anxious mind…”
Reflections on ancient and modern musick with the application to the cure of diseases (Richard Brocklesby, 1749)
A patient is seized with fever and delirium – will they make it through the night? Join us in the candlelit Great Hall of the historic North Wing for an evening of eighteen century music and readings. Featuring music by Handel, Purcell and their contemporaries, readings from historic medical treatises and texts created in workshops at St Bart’s Hospital.
With mezzo-soprano Joanna Harries (“emotional force” – The Times) and Ensemble Augelletti (“elegant pathos and rip-roaring technical dexterity” – The Arts Desk).
Programme includes:
Purcell – Music for a while
Purcell – I attempt from love’s sickness to fly
Handel – Süße Stille (Neun Deutsche Arien)
Handel – Pensieri notturne di Fille
Handel – Oh sleep, why dost thou leave me? (Semele)
Handel – As with rosy steps (Theodora)
Anon attr. Pergolesi – Nina
Purcell – Two in One Upon a Ground (Dioclesian)
Purcell – music from The Fairy Queen
Joanna Harries – mezzo-soprano
Praised for her “stylish” singing (Opera Magazine) and the “emotional force” (The Times) of her performances, mezzo-soprano Joanna Harries was a Young Artist at the National Opera Studio. Recent performances include Puccini’s La Rondine with Opera Rara and the BBC Symphony Orchestra at The Barbican, Mozart’s Requiem with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at Cadogan Hall and Wonderland with the London Symphony Orchestra at the Barbican.
She is a City Music Foundation artist and a previous Britten-Pears Artist and Handel House Artist. Her debut song album Letters from Scandinavia with pianist Sholto Kynoch was released in 2025 and described as “Vivid storytelling…meticulously researched and brilliantly executed.” (BBC Radio 3 Record Review) and “an unusual and enchanting thing” (Gramophone).
Ensemble Augelletti
Ensemble Augelletti are known for their innovative and engaging programmes, and performances that demonstrate an ‘equal capacity for elegant pathos and rip-roaring technical dexterity.’ (The Arts Desk, 2024).
Ensemble Augelletti are BBC New Generation Baroque Ensemble (2023-25) and City Music Foundation Artists (2024-26). Performing regularly on BBC Radio 3 and in arts festivals across the UK, they were finalists of the York International Young Artist Competition and released their debut CD in 2022.
Tickets can be purchased here through Eventbrite