Desandre and Dunford, Lettera Amorosa
Sunday, November 12, 2023, at 3:00 p.m.
Main Series, Concert 1
Grace St. Paul’s Episcopal Church | 2331 E. Adams St., Tucson, AZ Google Map
This performance is generously sponsored by John Anderson and Karen Topham.
“Lea Desandre brought life and beauty to everything she touched.” —The New York Times
“[Dunford is the] Eric Clapton of the lute.” —BBC Magazine
About the Program
Lettera Amorosa: Songs of Love from 17th-Century Italy
There are a thousand ways to write about love and a thousand ways to live it. In Lettera Amorosa, mezzo-soprano Lea Desandre and theorbist Thomas Dunford remind us of this through works dedicated to tenderness and affection by 17th-century Italian composers Merula, Monteverdi, Kapsberger, and Frescobaldi. These passionate pieces resonate with the richness, complexity, and timelessness of love.
About the Artists
French-Italian mezzo-soprano Lea Desandre’s career took off after being selected for William Christie’s Jardin des Voix in 2015. Since then she has appeared in major concert halls and opera houses on both sides of the Atlantic. In 2022 Desandre won the prestigious Opus Klassiek award for Female Singer of the Year.
Thomas Dunford discovered the lute at the age of nine. He obtained a unanimous 1st Prize with honors in 2006 at the Conservatoire de Paris and has made numerous solo and ensemble appearances at the most prestigious European festivals, including Ambronay, Arc La Bataille, Bozar, La Chaise-Dieu, Nantes, Saintes, Utrecht, and many others.