Venice highlighted: Santa Fe Desert Chorale

This week Santa Fe Desert Chorale introduces two programs into its summer mix. At 8 p.m. on Tuesday, July 21, it unveils “Venetian Splendor” at Loretto Chapel (207 Old Santa Fe Trail). Joshua Habermann will conduct eight singers plus lutenist Richard Savino and organist Jan Lackey in more than a dozen works from 16th- and 17thcentury Venice. Claudio Monteverdi towers over all; he’ll be represented by, among other pieces, his “Non havea Febo ancora,” with the famous “Lamento della Ninfa” at its center (from his Madrigali guerrieri, et amorosi ,of 1638), and the rollicking “Zefiro torna,” a ciaccona for two tenors and basso continuo (from his Scherzi

musicali of 1632). Other well-known composers in the lineup include Barbara Strozzi and the two Gabrielis (uncle Andrea and nephew Giovanni). Fifteen compositions by 10 composers make up a program titled “Serenade to Music,” which opens at 8 p.m. on Thursday, July 23, at the Church of the Holy Faith (311 E. Palace Ave). At its center is Ralph Vaughan Williams’ piece of the same name set to words from Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice. Here, its lush orchestral score will be reduced to an arrangement that uses just piano (Debra Ayers) and violin (David Felberg) to assist the chorus and soloists (again with Habermann conducting). Shorter works from a broad span of British music, from the Renaissance until practically our own time, round out the evening. The two programs continue in alternation through Aug. 4. Tickets ($20 to $55) are available by calling 505-988-2282 or through www.desertchorale.org. — James M. Keller