EarlyMusicNews.Org

"Musica ad Rhenum has, since its founding in 1992, created a devoted following in the musical world. The intensely personal and highly emotional style which characterizes the performances of the group has earned them a special place on the early music scene. "Exhilarating", "controversial", "virtuoso" and "cutting-edge" are words which critics have used to describe the highly-charged atmosphere the group has created in concert at festivals and halls throughout Europe, North and South America, Iceland, Israel and Japan.

Blending an informed historical perspective with a lively artistic spirit, balancing the intentions of the composer against the needs of the creative performer, Musica ad Rhenum aims to make an impact on the audience; to move, amuse and delight them, through the music itself. The essence of the artistic experience, the meeting of minds separated by centuries, the moving of passions felt by hearts now turned to dust, needs no frivolous trappings, no gimmicks. Musica ad Rhenum is convinced, and has convinced audiences around the world, that Baroque music is as strong, expressive and free as the performers themselves, and as relevant to the world today as it was when first composed.

With more than 30 CDs on the market, with prizes and recommendations to their credit and repeated invitations to perform in the most prestigious venues, Musica ad Rhenum has proven its merit. The group has performed at festivals in York, London, Graz, Antwerpen, Madrid, Berlin and Utrecht, and on the concerts series of Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Frick Museum New York, Wigmore Hall London, Philharmonie Berlin and both Musikhaus and Musikverein Vienna. The core activity of the group is the performance of 18th-century chamber music: most recently the group has specialised in French music, which they approach with the enthousiasm, style and sense of fun which characterizes all their work. Their success with this repertoire can perhaps be judged by their 2004 recording of the complete chamber music of François Couperin, which has been highly praised in the press and has sold more than 20,000 copies. However, Musica ad Rhenum is not soley a chamber music group. Traverso-player and founder Jed Wentz also conducts the orchestral formation in large-scale works, and recent recordings and staged performances of operas by Mozart, Purcell and Handel have been hailed by critics for their verve and freshness. Whether the repertoire be intimate chamber music or grand, tragic opera, a concert by Musica ad Rhenum is not soon to be forgotten. " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Jun 22, 2008 | Hits: 363

"The Apulia Baroque Ensemble, founded by John Rota and Antonio De Crudis, was created in 2005 by the necessity of musicians who share the same interests to create stable training ground dedicated to the study and implementation of passages from the Baroque repertoire, with particular attention to the School Neapolitan composers. ... " (Google translation) Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: May 25, 2008 | Hits: 319

Midieval musical, theatrical and dance ensemble. Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: May 25, 2008 | Hits: 305

"The Ensemble Pricipio di Virtù began performing theater for music and narration to become an autonomous form of entertainment. The ensemble performs in churches and castles, ruins and forests, wedding rituals, private parties. ... " (Google translation) Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: May 25, 2008 | Hits: 364

Early Music Ensemble performing Medieval music. Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: May 25, 2008 | Hits: 457

"LiliumLyra is an artistic project that aims to research and interpret medieval music, sacred and profane of the XII-XIII centuries inspired directly from the original manuscripts. " (Google translation) Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: May 25, 2008 | Hits: 324

"The Association Musical of the Cantrici Euterpe together with Aquilano Vocal was established in 1994 dedicating themselves from the outset to the study and performance of early music, to this end cooperates with the group instrumental Aquila Altera using only instruments copies of the originals of the era. " (Google translation) Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: May 24, 2008 | Hits: 337

"Inspired by Romance lyrics (reverdies) celebrating the return of Spring, the ensemble laReverdie was founded in 1986 by two pairs of sisters, all singers and instrumentalists, with the intent of exploring the musical repertoire of Europe from the High Middle Ages to the end of the 14th century.

The painstaking attention to authenticity with which laReverdie prepares its programs is only one of the numerous means through which the ensemble strives to communicate the vitality, meaning and unaffected harmony of everything it presents to its audience. A particular attention is given to the wide and mostly unexplored repertoire of "sacred theatre": liturgical dramas and dramatic liturgy, collective representations, manifestations which evoke the religiousness of an age whose echoes are not extinguished yet. The aim is not so much to meticulously catalogue a collection of archaeological relics as it is to faithfully reconstruct the musical heritage of the Middle Ages as a living fragment of a culture long since past but not lost.

laReverdie has enjoyed the regular collaboration of various other musicians: among the others Doron David Sherwin, one of the leading specialists of cornetto, as well as a versatile arranger, singer and percussionist. ... " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: May 24, 2008 | Hits: 473

" ... Our activities include the representation of music concerts, sacred and profane from the medieval-Renaissance periods ... " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: May 24, 2008 | Hits: 375

"THE DULCAMARA training is instrumental, composed primarily of reeds and percussion, who wants to convey the variety of colors and sensations of representations itinerant street in the Middle Ages, Renaissance and early Baroque. ... " (Google translation) Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: May 24, 2008 | Hits: 247

"The Galinverna music group was born in Turin in 1996, with the purpose to make a research in different directions concerning ethnic and ancient music. By means of musical festivals and historical shows they could perform in most Northern and central Italy and in France, giving concerts of ancient music or playing within historical commemorations, making street animations with traditional music, theatrical co-operations and also concerts of original music, where the interest for the ancient music melts with the interest for Mediterranean and European folk sonorities. ... " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: May 24, 2008 | Hits: 340

" The Ensemble Stampita is a group born in December 2003 dedicated to medieval music. We believe that music medieval-perhaps still little known outside the network of fans-could still be engaging and enjoyable even for a non-specialist public, and therefore is worth propose even outside of contexts so to speak "institutional". ... " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: May 24, 2008 | Hits: 294

"This international group, specialized in medieval and Renaissance music, was founded in 1991. Besides a busy concert calendar, ensemble members collaborate regularly with important educational and scientific institutions, in particular the Centre de Musique Ancienne de Genève, the CERIMM of Royaumont.

Much of LUCIDARIUM’s research and is dedicated to repertoires considered "minor," that were, in reality, powerful vehicles for spreading and evolving new musical concepts during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. This music, meant for daily use and wide distribution, represents a mirror of the taste and mentality of the era, at the same time raising a series of questions about the relationship between written music and oral transmission, and about the continuous exchange of forms and themes between the different levels of medieval and Renaissance society. ... " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: May 24, 2008 | Hits: 368

"The Ensemble Diapsalmata is made up of professionals medieval music. Text and singing, with the help of reconstructed instruments. ... " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: May 24, 2008 | Hits: 246

"Ensemble Adelchis was founded at the opportunity of Alessandro Manzoni's bicentenarial anniversary. At Sforza Castle, Milano, the Municipality set up the exhibition "Adelchis, dai Longobardi ai Carolingi", under the supervision of Arch. C. Calderini. The Head of the Culture Department of Milano Municipality charged Giovanna Motta with transcribing the lament for the death of the late Longobard Duke of Friuli, composed by Bishop Paolino d'Aquileia in 799, on the basis of the original notation. The resulting lament was recorded and used as background for the exhibitions held in Milano and Pavia. From the very few elements of these performances, say ine voice, one rebeck, one harp, as time went by the Ensemble Adelchis grew to its present formation. Althought relatively recently formed, the Ensemble Adelchis has already successfully performed before competent audiciens, such as Pavia's University, on the occasion of the 9th Anniversary of Lanfranco da Pavia' death; Foundation "G.Cini" in Venice; Medieval Weeks at Brisighella; Associazione Internazionale di studi di Canto Gregoriano in Cremona; Centro Italiano di Studi sull'Alto Medioevo in Spoleto. ... " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: May 24, 2008 | Hits: 287

El Delphìn, Early Music Ensemble was established in 2004. Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: May 24, 2008 | Hits: 513

"The group "Gaudium et Clamor" was founded in 1996 with the intent to promote the ancient music, dedicating it to the study and again the public to a repertoire that ranges from medieval songs to Renaissance dances. The artist girovago, minstrel, is the figure of medieval times that inspired the character of our group, which seeks to recreate such moments of celebration in both square and on the street among people both medieval dinners and concerts. In respect of philology, we try to interpret the music choices avoiding cold academic operations, not only distant in time, but also by the public. " (Google translation) Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: May 20, 2008 | Hits: 345

"Bel Fiore Dança is dedicated to ancient music repertoire and popular music, both instrumental and voice ... " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: May 18, 2008 | Hits: 277

"The ensemble Babel, formed in 2002, was born with a desire to enhance culture and music of the period commonly called Middle Ages. The musicians in the group, all from other ensemble of ancient music and popular (Sagegreen, Pandemonio, Harmonia Mundi Ensemble, Les Nouveaux Trouvères), un'inedita proposed merger between the medieval and Renaissance music and popular European musical tradition. The ensemble has participated in numerous historical commemorations in northern Italy (Novara, Rhone, Cusago, Castelnuovo), several dinners medieval and Renaissance and has played at various concert music old (Varese, Lecco, Milan, Arona). ... " (Google transl.) Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: May 18, 2008 | Hits: 374

" ... It is to recreate the atmosphere and courteous popular medieval world that the group uses of musical instruments, some faithfully reconstructed on the basis of precise iconographic references, others still in use in the tradition of countries bordering the Mediterranean.

The group has toured in France, Germany, Poland, Holland, Austria, Finland, Hungary, Australia. The ensemble has performed for important associations concert and has participated in major ancient music events both Italian and foreign. ... " (translated (ed.)) Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: May 18, 2008 | Hits: 285

"Aquila Altera is a vocal and instrumental group that specialises in performing pan-European medieval music. Building on the extensive experience and backgrounds of the performers, Aquila Altera aims to spread and promote the knowledge and education of ancient middle age music and to conduct musical research leading to historically correct performances. To achieve this, the group uses reproduction instruments of the era exclusively, and can consist of 5 to 12 different performers (musicians & vocalists), depending upon the specific needs of its programmes. Their repertoire is principally based on the performance of medieval and renaissance European music; covering monody, polyphony, sacred, secular and instrumental pieces.

Aquila Altera has taken part in numerous concerts, historical revocations and sound tracks for television. Recent performances include: Settimana Internazionale della Musica Medievale e Rinascimentale di Erice; Il Festival"Alia Musica" – Parma Estri d'Estate" Parma; Concerti per il Giubileo - Rome ; Stagione Concertistica Fondazione G.P. da Palestrina - Palestrina RM; il Canto delle Pietre - Lombardia Europa Musica; VII Festival del Teatro Medievale e Rinascimentale di Anagni; "Musica a Corte" - Reggio Emilia; "Echi e Suoni dalla Pieve" - Forlì; "Dalle Palme a San Luca 2002" - Bologna; ”Los Conciertos del Cervantes” - Istituto Cervantes – Roma.

The group is passionate about medieval music and feel that it is very relevant and appropriate in historic events and revocations, because the music is relocated in the proper space and sound of that era. The group has also taken part in numerous medieval festivals throughout Italy.

Aquila Altera, in collaboration with the Le Cantrici di Euterpe (a vocal musical association), performed in several festivals and shows, both in Italy and abroad. In 2000, they recorded a compilation CD of sacred and secular music, "Tempus Transit". Two years later they undertook the recording of "Menando gli Anni". This collection contains medieval and renaissance music from Abruzzo. " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: May 18, 2008 | Hits: 378

"Antikantus, ... the project is to build a repertoire of music medieval Sicilian or having reference to Sicily or the Mediterranean world, investigating the musical traditions of Spain, Provence, North Africa, the Balkans and the Middle East. ... " (Google translation) Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: May 18, 2008 | Hits: 315

"Antica Consonanza is an ensemble formed in 1987 by musicians with decades of experience in the field of Renaissance and Baroque music, focusing on musical production of the Middle Ages.

The instruments were largely designed and reconstructed in collaboration with the maker Pasquale Scala (Praiano, SA) on the basis of iconographic sources. In some cases are used medieval instruments still in use in the Mediterranean music. ... " (translated ed.) Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: May 18, 2008 | Hits: 310

"Anima Mundi Consort, formed in 2003, groups various performers with extensive experience in the field of Period Music. The ensemble performs using solely original instruments from the chosen period and collaborates with renowned experts in the fields of research and interpretation of Ancient Music and also in the reconstruction of period instruments. ... " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: May 18, 2008 | Hits: 314

" Le Triomphe de l'amour is a chamber music ensemble performing Baroque music on original instruments.

Our concerts are more than just music: each is an exploration of music and cultural history, and a window into life in the 18th century. Illustrated pre-concert talks, focused program themes, and insightful program notes help to lead the audience to a deeper appreciation of the music.

Based in Princeton, NJ, Le Triomphe de l'amour presents an annual series of concerts performed in intimate surroundings by members of the ensemble and guest artists. Le Triomphe de l’amour is known for imaginative programming of both familiar and seldom-heard works of the 17th and 18th centuries. " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: May 10, 2008 | Hits: 585