The Golden Harpsichord

Thomas Crawford, Founder and Artistic Director
Bradley Strauchen-Scherer, Met Museum, Musical Instruments Curator
Elisse Albian, soprano
Caroline Giassi, oboe
Alessandro Scarlatti: Christmas Cantata
Arcangelo Corelli: Christmas Concerto in G Minor, Op. 6, No. 8
George Frideric Handel: Il delirio amoroso, HWV 99

The Met Museum’s ‘Golden Harpsichord’ in its Musical Instruments Gallery is an outstanding example of beauty and technology.

Built in 1670 in Rome by Michele Todini, the harpsichord’s elaborate frame includes two large figures—Polyphemus and Galatea—which provide a distinctive backdrop for this salon concert of Italian Baroque music.

The program includes two classic holiday cantatas written to celebrate the nativity of Jesus: Scarlatti’s Christmas Cantata, and Corelli’s Christmas Concerto.

Also on the program is Handel’s virtuosic castrato aria, Il delinrio amoroso (The Delirium of Love), about a woman who descends to Hades to rescue her deceased lover and take him to the Elysian fields. 

It features Baroque soprano Elisse Albian’s “glittering soprano” (Observer) and oboist Caroline Giassi.