Did you choose San Franciscos Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra to perform and Nicholas McGegan to conduct?
MM: We’ve worked with them a lot, so this is coming home, and it’s wonderful. And to do it on period instruments it’s a problem because that hall [the New York State Theater at Lincoln Center] is not good acoustically. It’ll have to be pumped up a little bit, but that’s what you get from not wanting to hear pointe shoes. I love the sound of the period instruments it’s more rustic sounding than when it’s performed with modern instruments. And Nic is a genius conductor and player. He’s totally fluent in the style of Baroque music very educated and a wonderful player with a great sense of fun and spontaneity, so the stuff is never ossified. It’s very lively and dance-based, which is what Baroque music is, really. GK: Milton ends [L’Allegro ed il Penseroso] with Melancholy and Handel with Moderation, but you end the dance with Happiness. Why? MM: It makes a better ending. Also, before that there’s an unbelievable, fabulous chorus, which we call “the Melancholy Octet,” which to me is sort o
