EarlyMusicNews.Org

“What....HENRY'S Messiah?

You read that right. Handel wasn't the only one to set those familiar texts to music. Henry Purcell beat him to it, and you can hear these remarkable settings on March 11.
         

“This year’s delights? The phenomenal maestro Alessandrini conducts Concerto Italiano, top ensemble Le Poème Harmonique visits from France, and German Cantus Cölln bring their dazzling vocal skill. All exclusive visits for SEMF, and first performances in Stockholm! Colourful Swiss ensemble Elyma opens the festival with exotic baroque sounds from Latin America. Also, a memorial concert for Gustav Leonhardt, Faroese ”kvaddans”, Portuguese early world music, greetings from Swedish 18th century poet Carl Michael Bellman…
                     

“Domenico Mazzocchi 1630 : soleil et ruines de Rome”, with the ensemble Scherzi Musicali, dir. Nicolas Achten

Podcast: 01:30:00

Monday mornings, France Musique starts the week off with “Matin des musiciens” with interviews of all genres. Along with the participation of Edouard Fouré Caul-Futy, the ensemble Scherzi Musicali, is interviewed on the details and influences of Domenico Mazzocchi (1592-1665) vocal compositions.
                            

This year’s concert events have been posted in the Callas Early Music Festival website. You may want to visit the site if you are planning on being in the area.
                  

Early Music Festival at Asfeld

International viola da gamba festival held every year. The programme is available online. If your interest lies with the viola da gamba you may want to visit the site and peruse their itinerary. The church at Asfeld is believed to have been built along the lines of a viola da gamba.
                  

“wynndebagge has been at the forefront of bringing medieval, Renaissance and European dance music to a wider audience whilst making them laugh for over 15 years. With ancestral roots amongst the Russian steppes and French Huguenots and links to branches in British television comedy, film, the RSC and Music Hall, his influences are culturally diverse yet his style very English. …
         

Harmonia extends congratulations to all of the 2011 Grammy winners! 

In the classical music genre, there were several early music recordings nominated.  Harmonia would like to highlight these recordings for your enjoyment.
                 

Location: Set in the soft green hills of the Mostviertel (Lower Austria), the → Benedictine abbey of Seitenstetten,  founded in 1112, doesn't really show it's age: Famous 18th century artists like Paul Troger and Bartolomeo Altomonte gave it the handsome baroque face it still preserves today. The abbey and its famous baroque garden, perfect for relaxing between dance lessons, lend their atmosphere to our summer school.

Classes will be held in rooms of the abbey and the new Education Center St. Benedikt alternately. Students will be lodged in the Education Center's cosy hostel.

Beginners to Advanced
             

Location: Schloss Glarisegg, Steckborn, Switzerland

“Join us for an intensive seven-day Early Music workshop in Switzerland to be held September 24-October 1, 2012 at Schloss Glarisegg, Steckborn, Switzerland.
 
This intensive workshop will cover many musical styles but has a special emphasis on music that reflects the medieval history of the region around Lake Constance, a beautiful lake that touches three countries (Switzerland, Germany, and Austria. 

ArkivMusic’s weekend special newsletter is out for this weekend. Of note the“Gombert: Missa Media Vita / Hilliard Ensemble”.

Release Date: 01/10/2006
Label:  Ecm   Catalog #: 000591702   Spars Code: DDD
Composer:  Nicolas Gombert
Performer:  Robert [Bass Voice] MacDonald,  Andreas Hirtreiter,  David James,  Gordon Jones, Rogers Covey-Crump, Steven Harrold
Orchestra/Ensemble:  Hilliard Ensemble
Number of Discs: 1
Recorded in: Stereo
Length: 1 Hours 16 Mins.
                        

From the latest newsletter from the National Centre for Early Music (NCEM), we are reminded of their upcoming early music concert listings; of particular note, the NCEM Composers Award 2012 venue where the winners will be announced. Book early as these concerts are usually quite popular.
     

“Winnipeg music lovers were willingly transported back several centuries as Daniel Taylor and Montreal-based Theatre of Early Music graced Westminster United Church with a program of infrequently heard music.
         

EarlyMusicNews.org Weblinks Revisited 

"Based in an 18th century farm complex in the Yorkshire Pennines, we supply the needs of early music enthusiasts world-wide. We hold large stocks of sheetmusic in facsimile and modern editions, books and CDs Anything we do not have in stock, will be obtained on demand. Look in the Catalogues page for publishers' catalogues." 
                

Stile Antico and Fretwork
Tune Thy Musicke to thy Hart
Tudor and Jocobean Music for Private Devotion

On Tune thy Musick to thy Hart the young British stars of song Stile Antico are joined by the award-winning viol consort Fretwork to explore the wealth of Tudor and Jacobean sacred music written not for church performance, but for the court and for the home. Sung entirely in English, the program invites audiences to eavesdrop on this profound and moving musical experience.
                

L’Humor Bizzarro
intarsi di musica e danza antica
courses, concerts and workshops

11th edition – Rome (Italy) August 1st – 8th, 2012
Location: Scuola Popolare di Musica di Testaccio

At the end of the workshop all the courses will take part in the final students' performance with dance, music and theatre.

EarlyMusicNews.org Weblinks Revisited 

Building bowed instruments for more than 25 years gave me the opportunity to measure quite a lot of original 17th and 18th century instruments. Among these are instruments from makers like Barak Norman, Edward Lewis, Cheron, Bertrand, Rombouts, Jacobs, Hellmer, Stradivari, Castagnieri, Linarol and Ciciliano. The list of names includes cellos, basses, the members of the viol family from treble viol to consort bass, and the viola d'amore.
                

“The Amsterdam Early Music Summer School is an Early Music course targeting the historically informed performance of Baroque and Classical music. The course is open to participants of all ages (instrumentalists as well as vocalists) and will include private lessons from expert teachers from the Early Music Faculty at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam, as well as workshops, masterclasses, lectures, concerts, and lots of chances to play with fellow students from all over the world.” (** More information of the 2012 summer school details are forthcoming. -- ed.)
                        

“The music of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart has long occupied a prominent place in the company’s repertoire. A series of successful productions encouraged the decision to mark the 200th anniversary of the composer’s death with the 1st Mozart Festival (15 June – 26 July 1991). Its programme included all of Mozart’s stage works (26 productions). The Mozart Festival has been organised on an annual basis since then. Every edition of the event (15 June – 26 July) comprises Mozart complete stage output and a selection of his chamber, symphonic, and vocal-instrumental works. The Warsaw Chamber Opera is the only company in the world to have Mozart’s entire operatic output in its permanent repertoire. Small wonder that this unprecedented achievement won the Warsaw’s company wide international recognition.”
                            

American Bach Soloists recent newsletter lets us know of its latest recording of Bach's St. Matthew Passion (2000) available on iTunes. However, instead, you may to take a look at its “discography” web page and take stock of its impressive catalogue of available CD titles. Quite an impressive display.
                       

(From the latest ArkivMusic Newsletter, 2 feb 2012 -- ed)

“ArkivMusic now has the Apex budget series of titles from Erato, Teldec, and Warner Classics on sale at 3 CDs for $20! Our featured titles are below. Buy 3 or more CDs from our complete section of eligible titles and you will be charged only $6.66 per disc. The more you buy, the more you save! Be sure to also view our list of Apex 2-disc sets at just $9.99 each! (Note: Our Apex 3-for-$20 sale does not include ArkivCDs or imports; sale ends 3/12/12.)”
               

Loction: Gallery 78, 796 Queen Street, Fredericton NB, Canada

“We would like to invite you to the next concert, 'For the Birds', with harpsichordist Jonathan Addleman and baroque violinist Sari Tsuji.

Nightingales, cuckoos, chickens – birds inspired composers to write some charming music! A musical aviary for violin and harpsichord by Biber, Rameau, Daquin, Frescobaldi, Schmelzer, and even a certain Mister Finch. A sort of midwinter pick-me-up concert, and most definitely not just for the birds, but for music lovers too!
    

ArkivMusic has on sale one of classical music's classiest labels, Harmonia Mundi, with noteworthy new releases and frontline titles available at $7 off list price plus a selection of reissues for only $6.99 each! Our featured titles are below, or view the entire catalog while it is all on sale! (Sale ends 3/5/12.)
                    

“The first edition of EAR-ly was organised as a national competition in Sweden in June 2008 by Stockholm Early Music Festival. The winner was Duo Ferrara. Since 2010 the competition is a Nordic event arranged by NORDEM. In 2010, an international jury headed by Ton Koopman appointed Norwegian Cornett & Sackbuts was appointed the winning ensemble.
                    

“The Consorzio Liutai Antonio Stradivari Cremona was founded in 1996 for the purpose of promoting and making known contemporary Cremonese violin making, which upholds an ancient artisan tradition.

The Consorzio has its seat in Cremona , the city of Stradivari , Amati and Guarneri, the great masters of the past. Their art, known and admired throughout the world, is a source of inexhaustible inspiration for modern instrument makers.

Around sixty master stringed instrument makers from Cremona and its Province belong to the Consorzio.
      

“As Mignarda, we typically perform music for voice and lute from the 16th century, an enterprise that keeps us busy enough.  But it turns out that our musical tastes do extend to the repertory of 19th century 'heart songs' or, the better-known descriptor, parlor songs.