Join harpsichordist & scholar Jonathan Salamon, plus an ensemble of baroque instrumentalists and singers, as he performs, explains, and brings to life rarely heard eighteenth-century music from Amsterdam’s Portuguese (Sephardic) Synagogue. Hear the exquisite sounds of celebration and worship by composers Abraham de Caçeres, Cristiano Giuseppe Lidarti, and M. Mani.

Location

That the performance takes place against the historical backdrop of New Amsterdam, where the dominant Jewish population during the Dutch period was Sephardic (originally from Spain and Portugal), which connects the unique philosophical traditions of the Netherlands and the United States.

The music, which features Hebrew texts set in a classical operatic style, spans many moods and covers a range of liturgical functions for Amsterdam’s Sephardic community. The program highlights the historical and cultural conditions that brought together many worlds— ancient and modern, divine and secular—mediated by the community’s Iberian past and integration into a Dutch identity.

The performance features two countertenors, two violins, a cello, and a harpsichord.

James M. Brown, countertenor, Jack Lindberg, countertenor, Vivian Mayers, baroque violin, Amelia Sie, baroque violin, Charles Reed, baroque cello.

This performance will be presented live at Congregation Shearith Israel and simultaneously broadcast.

Congregation Shearith Israel, the Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue, was founded in 1654, the first Jewish congregation to be established in North America.

Image: Interior of the Portuguese Synagogue in Amsterdam, Emanuel de Witte, 1680

All participants are required to be vaccinated. By attending this concert, you are agreeing to all of Shearith Israel’s procedures and requirements, including wearing a mask if asked, and you represent and warrant that you are fully vaccinated.