The Columbia Museum of Art presents two concerts in conjunction with Theatre of Vice
Contributed by The Columbia Museum of Art

Robert Jesselson and Friends bring Stravinsky to life with a chamber performance Jan. 19 at 7 pm at the Columbia Museum of Art.

The Columbia Museum of Art presents two January concerts in conjunction with Theatre of Vice: The Kress Pulcinella Paintings Reunited featuring the Arlecchino Consort and Robert Jesselson and Friends.

Sunday, Jan. 14, brings a performance drawn on a popular festival of another era. In Medieval and Renaissance Europe, the twelfth night following Christmas marked the culmination of the holiday season. Ronald and Janice Cook of Columbus, Ohio. Susan Shimp of Charlotte, N.C., and Columbia–based Christopher Berg, Jerry Curry, and Craig Kridel form the Arlecchino Consort and perform music on period instruments. A pre–concert lecture by Ronald Cook begins at 2:30 pm and the performance at 3 pm. The program is free with admission or museum membership.

Robert Jesselson and Friends bring Stravinsky to life with a chamber performance on Friday, Jan. 19, at 7 pm. Stravinsky took up the topic of Pulcinella in the form of a ballet in 1920 and in 1922 extracted an orchestral suite from it. He later transcribed five of its numbers for violin and piano as the Suite Italienne

The program is free with admission or museum membership.

For the first time in South Carolina, two paintings depicting scenes derived from the Commedia dell’Arte by Magnasco, a most unusual 18th century artist, are shown side–by–side as the artist originally intended. The museum’s painting of Pulcinella Singing to His Many Children was given to the museum in 1954 by Samuel Kress, and its partner, The Supper of Pulcinella and Colombina , now on loan through Jan. 21, 2007, was given to the North Carolina Museum of Art in 1960. The pair of paintings is on view in the Columbia Museum of Art’s 18th Century SCANA Gallery.

The Commedia dell’Arte (comedy of professional artists) was a popular form of improvisational theater that began in the 14th century and remained popular throughout the 18th century, particularly in Italy. This installation and its related programming are generously supported by the Samuel H. Kress Foundation.