EarlyMusicNews.Org

"From deeply authentic baroque to wilfully unauthentic Mascagni, Sambuca present four hundred years of music plundered from all over Europe and beyond. Peter Martin performs on guitar, baroque guitar and lute with Michael Copley on recorder, ocarina, flute and other woodwind instruments. Whether classic Handel sonatas, virtuoso Vivaldi concertos, sultry tangos by Piazzolla, exhilarating Albeniz, or lively world music from Bolivia and Macedonia, Sambuca's eclectic range of music has an immediate appeal to audiences from school children to the most serious early music specialists. " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Apr 20, 2008 | Hits: 326

"The Windermere String Quartet was formed in the spring of 2005 to perform the music of Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven and their contemporaries on period instruments. The Quartet is rapidly gathering notice for its dynamic performances and distinctive sound. " See website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Mar 06, 2008 | Hits: 325

"TREFOIL is a trio of singer-instrumentalists long active in early music, with experience in such ensembles as Concert Royal, Les Arts Florissants, New York's Ensemble for Early Music, Pomerium, Clarion Music society, Piffaro, My Lord Chamberlain's Consort, and other groups. The trio debuted in New York and Philadelphia early in 2000 with a program of 14th-century French ars subtilior song. The Philadelphia Inquirer tagged the performers as "a hearty trio of medieval music specialists" and their work as "an intricate, enigmatic vocal art." TREFOIL has appeared in concerts and master classes at The Cloisters, Temple University, Vassar College, Middlebury College, Franklin and Marshall College, the Vermont Millennium Arts Festival, the Museum Series of Providence, Boston College, the Currier Museum of Art in Manchester, NH, the Neighborhood Music School in New Haven, the 2002 Amherst Early Music Festival, the New York Early Music Celebration, the Washington D.C. Early Music Festival, and the 37th International Congress on Medieval Studies at the University of Western Michigan at Kalamazoo. The trio has also made joint appearances with Piffaro, the Renaissance Band in Philadelphia, the Folger Concert in Washington, D.C. and The Newberry Consort in Chicago, Illinois. " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Apr 18, 2008 | Hits: 325

"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 music ensemble instrumental and vocal Les Talens Lyriques was established in 1991. By choosing this title, subtitle of a Rameau opera (Festivities Hebe, 1739), Christophe Rousset demonstrates his appeal for the repertoire of the eighteenth century.

The repertoire of Les Talens Lyriques extends from Monteverdi (The Coronation of Poppea) to Handel (Scipione, Riccardo Primo, Rinaldo, Admeto, Giulio Cesare, Serse, Tamerlano, Alcina), Lully (Perseus, Roland), Cimarosa (Il Mercato di Malmantile, Il Matrimonio Segreto), Traetta (Antigona, Ippolito ed Aricia), Jommelli (Armida abbandonata), Martin y Soler (La Capricciosa Corretta) and Mozart (Mitridate, Re di Ponto, Die Entführung aus dem Serail). ... " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Jul 16, 2008 | Hits: 324

"His Majestys Sagbutts and Cornetts is a group of virtuoso wind players who specialise in playing early music in authentic styles on original instruments. The noble sound of cornetts and sackbuts was among the most versatile instrumental colours available to composers of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. It was heard in many musical contexts: in consort or in alternation with voices in the extravagant liturgy of the great Italian and Spanish churches - above all the Basilica of St Mark's in Venice; in aristocratic entertainments such as the intermedii of northern Italy or the masques of Jacobean England; and in the ceremonial and devotional music for the courts and free cities of Lutheran Germany. " See website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Feb 23, 2008 | Hits: 323

“Founded by Martin Gester in Strasbourg in 1990, Le Parlement de Musique is an ensemble of solo singers and instrumentalists which may be expanded to the dimensions of orchestra with choir. It champions the Baroque and Classical repertoire in all its forms, alternating modern premieres and new interpretations of standard repertoire.

Le Parlement de Musique has produced a large number of significant modern recreations, most of which have been recorded and have met with an enthusiastic response from the press. Among these are works by Charpentier – the early Leçons de Ténèbres; several Histoires sacrées; and the Te Deum and Grands Motets (which despite the large number of recorded interpretations available was hailed by Diapason and a number of critics’ panels as the ‘benchmark version’); premiere recordings of works by Sébastien de Brossard and Samuel Capricornus; the Lamentazioni of Alessandro Scarlatti and the Vespers of Giovanni Battista Bassani (which won the Prize of the Fondazione Cini, Venice); organ concertos by J. S. Bach;  .. .“

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Added on: Jul 27, 2009 | Hits: 323

"…was founded in the year 2001, with the aim of exploring the early musical and poetical repertoire of Italian Duecento, adventuring in a mainly unexplored field of interaction between poetry and its musical attire. The historical field of research soon expanded to include a wider spectrum of repertoire, including the whole of the late Middle Ages. The musicians come from different fields, but have in common a specialization on the field of medieval music – careful academic research about the repertoire as well as the instruments and the performance practice give a stable theoretical background to the lively concerts." Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: May 04, 2008 | Hits: 322

"Ciaramella brings to life Medieval and early Renaissance music from historical events and manuscripts. Praised for performing intricate fifteenth-century counterpoint "with the ease of jazz musicians improvising on a theme," its members are united by the conviction that every omposition conceals a rich story waiting to be unlocked through historical research and speculative performance.

Founded on a core of winds: shawm, sackbut, recorder, organ, and voice, Ciaramella takes its name from the Italian shawm and from a fifteenth-century song about abeautiful girl whose clothes are full of holes. When she opens her mouth, she knocks men flat. Ciaramella's members met as graduate students at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. They first performed together on Christmas Day 2003, in Spoleto, Italy. There they collaborated with musicologist Gioia Filocamo to perform music from the manuscript Panciatichi 27, much of which had not been heard for centuries. In 2004, the group performed in a staged production of the first Hebrew play, A Comedy of Betrothal by Leone de'Sommi (c.1550) at the Cleveland Museum of Art. "

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Added on: Mar 12, 2008 | Hits: 321

"For over a decade and a half, Concerto Palatino, under the direction of Bruce Dickey and Charles Toet, has been leading the way in the revival of the cornetto and baroque trombone. Their highly acclaimed concerts and recordings have brought an appreciation of their important but little known music to modern audiences, and stimulated many young players to take up these instruments, practically unknown a generation ago. " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Mar 12, 2008 | Hits: 321

“Since its formation in 1996, Concanentes has established itself as one of the leading ensembles specialising in the performance of music from the Middle Ages and the sixteenth century. Winner of the 1998 Bankers' Trust Pyramid Award, Concanentes went on to be selected for the 1999-2000 Classics West Business & Arts Partnership scheme. In 1999 the ensemble appeared in the International Early Music Network Young Artists' Competition and was selected for the late Yehudi Menuhin's Live Music Now! scheme. The year 2000 saw a debut recital in the Purcell Room in London as part of the Intrada series, as well as concerts in the Barcelona and Bruges Early Music Festivals and the National Early Music Showcase. As recommended artists for the 2000-2001 NFMS Concert Promoters' Network, Concanentes gave a number of tours around Britain. These successful performances led to the group being reselected for the 2003-2004 season. Earlier this year Concanentes gave a tour of the Netherlands for the Oude Musiek Organization in Utrecht (where one of their concerts was recorded for a later broadcast on Dutch Radio).

Concanentes has been featured on BBC Radio 3's early music programme Music Restored and Radio 4's Woman's Hour and has worked with actors by providing music for the medieval mystery plays. Their education programmes have led to projects with The Centre for Young Musicians in London, The National Centre for Early Music and The Pied Piper Project in Yorkshire, as well as recitals at a number of Universities in the UK.

Musicians who form the ensemble Concanentes: Faye Newton, Catherine Fleming and Hazel Brooks“

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Added on: Apr 14, 2009 | Hits: 321

"The Practitioners of Musick ensemble, founded by John Burkhalter and the late Professor Eugene Roan (1931 - 2006) to survey the musical riches of 18th century Great Britain - Ireland & both the Colonial and early Federal periods in America. Recent research, has also focused attention on musical life in New-France before the Fall of Quebec in 1759.

The group has presented period entertainments of music at many of the 18th century sites that are administered by the New Jersey Division of Parks & Forestry and the National Park Service, as well as Old New Castle, Delaware, Colonial Williamsburg, Historic Deerfield, Massachusetts, and a great number of other historical sites. "

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Added on: May 10, 2008 | Hits: 320

"The Balthazar Ensemble wind quintet was established in 1999; it performs classical and early romantic wind music on the instruments for which the music was originally composed. All the members specialize in early music performance, and play on historical instruments or modern copies.

The ensemble has performed in venues ranging from the Noorderkerk church in Amsterdam to Dussum Castle, and inaugurated the Mengalzaal at the Ghent Conservatorium.

Individually Balthazar's members perform (in some cases on instruments they have built themselves) with the world's leading orchestras, early and otherwise, and ensembles — Freiburger Barockorchester, The Academy of Ancient Music, Radio Filharmonisch Orkest, Musica ad Rhenum, Les Talens Lyriques, Radio Symfonie Orkest, Nachtmusique, Zefiro, Concerto K�ln, La Grande Ecurie and Europa Galante.

Balthazar Ensemble offers you a fresh and sparkling interpretation of the works of well known composers — Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven and Rossini, without neglecting the output of their less well known contemporaries, Danzi, Mengal, Reicha and Gebauer, which deserve once more to be placed in the spotlight.

The unique sounds of historical instruments, the combination of transparent timbres and clarity of articulation results in uplifting and vital performances of this fascinating repertoire. ... " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Jul 12, 2008 | Hits: 320

RAYUELA was founded in spring 2004 by Claudia Gerauer, Martina Joos and Thomas Engel. The three recorder-players had studied with Kees Boeke and Matthias Weilenmann at the Zurich School of Music, Drama and Dance. As the "Trio O'Henry" they toured many European countries (Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Poland, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic and Russia) and north Africa (Morocco), and won several prizes at international competitions (International Recorder Competition in Calw, Germany, Kiwanis Prize for Chamber Music, Switzerland, the Swiss Orpheus Prize, the Migros-Genossenschaft Chamber Music Prize, Switzerland, and the International Chamber Music Competition on Period Instruments "Premio Bonporti" in Rovereto, Italy). ..

In the spring of 2004 the trio's many years of intensive work with other musicians culminated in the formation of the RAYUELA ensemble. Its programmes always include the three recorders, while other instruments are added depending on the particular programme.

RAYUELA made its debut with the programme "Changes" (in the monastery church of St. Gerold, Austria) in May 2004, which was recorded by Austrian radio. It delighted the audience and critics alike . ..“

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Added on: May 18, 2009 | Hits: 320

“Marianne R. Pfau created Toutes Suites in 2006 to restore magnificent but little known or entirely forgotten music of the Baroque. Toutes Suites, on period instruments and prominently featuring the hautbois, works in California and in Germany.

Scrutinizing Baroque hautbois music in the great European archives that in many cases has not been heard since the 18th century, has revealed some astonishingly beautiful works by largely unknown composers.  Ms. Pfau, musicologist-cum-hoboista, takes great pleasure in bringing these gems to light again and exposing modern audiences to their sonic beauty, in CD recordings, on radio, and in live concerts.  She also publishes modern editions of the works recorded. “

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Added on: Jun 17, 2010 | Hits: 320

"José Hernández Pastor, altus; Ariel Abramovich, vihuela; Hernán Cuadrado, vihuela de arco.

The artistic project of El Cortesano was born in Basle, Switzerland, in 1998, thanks to the fortunate meeting of two young musicians both passionately dedicated to renaissance music. Although both studied at the Schola Cantorum Basilensis, José Hernández and Ariel Abramovich have different musical backgrounds and life experience, which enables them to put forward both diverse and complementary visions.

Inspired perhaps by their youthful enthusiasm, the duo have rejected rigid and universalist visions of this music. In order to compensate for this departure from conventionalism, they have found it necessary to search for new answers by the in-depth study of a careful selection of the period's incredibly rich poetic and musical output. In this investigation, the members of El Cortesano have turned directly to the original sources, without the mediation of modern editors.

Guided by the conviction that, as Castiglione put it in the work the group takes its name from, declamation can make wonders out of words, the duo embarked upon the adventure of experimenting with ways of bringing the music closer to the text. Thus they began a profound investigation, which throughout the years has been the key to defining a committed and rigorous artistic conception, widely acknowledged today. From this perspective, it is only direct communication with the audience -and the ephemeral spell this creates- that justifies the performance.

In such diverse situations and places as The Semana de la Música Antigua de Estella and the Festival Are More in Vigo among others, performances in renowned concert halls such as the Palau de la Música de Valencia and the Príncipe Felipe in Oviedo, and presentations all over Spain, France, Switzerland, Belgium, Morocco, Ecuador and Argentina, El Cortesano has been able to generate the same phenomenon; that of enabling the audience to participate in a singular artistic experience, inviting them to introspection and the encounter with the sensuality of this type of art.

The group’s recording career began in 2002 with El Parnasso, recorded by the French label Arcana, following an intense period of research into Castillian vihuelist's Estevan Daça's work (Valladolid, 1576), never previously recorded. This record was well received by critics and public, helping strengthen the duo’s identity and giving them the confidence to envisage future projects with enthusiasm. Among these we have, in the 2006 agenda, performances in Canada, the USA, Brazil, Argentina and Chile, and the recording of an original and innovative second album. "

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Added on: Mar 12, 2008 | Hits: 319

"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

“The allure is undeniable.  Six talented, attractive women breathe renewed life into the rich texts of medieval songs and poetry.  Their hauntingly beautiful music captures the imagination and devotion of modern audiences.  They are the Mediaeval Baebes, and in ten years they have placed three studio albums into the top of the UK classical charts and performed before enthusiastic audiences in the UK, United States, Canada and Europe.

Founding member Katharine Blake is also the music director and lead composer and arranger for the band. Born in London, Katharine was classically trained at the Purcell School of Music and Richmond College. In the mid-1990s she met musician Dorothy Carter in Berlin.  Carter was playing hurdy-gurdy
and dulcimer, and Blake was immediately drawn to the sound of the medieval music and instruments. Back in London, she and a group of friends got together to sing songs from the Middle Ages purely for their own enjoyment.  Within a year they had released their first album, Salva Nos, which climbed into the UK’s Classical chart, and became Virgin Classics’ fastest selling debut album.  Their 1998 follow-up album,  Worldes Bylsse, blazed to number one in the Classical Charts. ..“ Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Apr 19, 2009 | Hits: 319

"New Renaissance Voices was formed in 1987 to perform polyphonic music of the 15th and 16th centuries. For ten years the choir made its regular home at St John the Divine, Richmond in south-west London. In 1998 the choir moved its base into central London and sang regularly for two years in the newly refurbished church of St John’s Waterloo. NRV has performed as part of the Southwark Festival and its concerts now regularly take place in Southwark Cathedral.

NRV’s founder and director is Bruce Saunders. A choral scholar at Cambridge and an experienced recitalist and oratorio soloist, he performs regularly with baroque orchestras using period instruments in London and elsewhere, and has appeared as a soloist with many London choirs and choral societies. Active in early music in Bristol and Portsmouth since the early 1970s, he moved to London in 1984 and drew together a group of friends interested in exploring the early music repertoire.

NRV is now a group of about eighteen singers. Since their first concert in March 1987 in the church of St Mary the Virgin Mortlake, the choir, whose name was chosen to echo something of the ars nova style of renaissance polyphony, have given more than fifty concerts exploring the music of composers from Dufay, Ockeghem and Josquin to Gesualdo and Monteverdi. NRV’s repertoire explores European rather than English music. This wider range of styles requires a willingness to move away from the soaring legato with which English Tudor music is customarily performed, in order to learn how to respond vocally in new ways to the enormous variety of demands made by the music of this fascinating period. " See website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Feb 23, 2008 | Hits: 318

"Alla Moderna is an ensemble founded in 2007 by Dmitry Badiarov. The group consists of musicians who have shared the utmost joy of playing together and are all renowned performers in the early music field. The name of the group derives from Bartolomeo Bismantova's Compendio Musicale (Ferrara 1677/1694), where he refers to Violoncello da Spalla Alla Moderna.

The history unveils that the early cello was frequently, if not predominantly, played on the shoulder when, in the 17th Century, it was still a 'modern' instrument. The group intends to perform the earliest violoncello repertory with instruments and voices using such a violoncello da spalla and other innovative bowed instruments re-created by the founder. " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Mar 23, 2008 | Hits: 318

" The group was initially formed to support organisations working towards the protection of the national artistic patrimony of Piemonte and other regions of Italy. The profits made out of the concerts are used towards the restauration of Churches, paintings and frescos.

The 'Archilegio Ensemble' gathers musicians of different musical background and origin and aims to promote and reveal some of the less knowen Baroque repertoire.

The common passion for the music combined with a strong sense of harmony within the group have allowed the Ensemble to achieve considerable musical results, therefore obtaining positive feedback from critics and audiences. ... " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Jun 29, 2008 | Hits: 318

"Founded in 1993 at the Institute of Music of the Catholic University of Chile, this vocal and instrumental group has been engaged in research and interpretation and teaching about musical repertoires of the Middle Ages, the Renaissance and Baroque, focusing its work in recent years to draft interpretation of Baroque repertoire, led by Gina Allende and Sergio Candia. ... " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Jul 30, 2008 | Hits: 318

"SARBAND means connection - just as the name, which stems from Oriental music theory and denotes to an improvised linking of two compositions within a musical suite. Musical director Dr. Vladimir Ivanoff, who founded SARBAND in 1986, both as a scholar and a musician, connects cultures, people and epochs: His programmes unite musicians from the most different cultures and backgrounds and mediate between past and present, Early Music and living traditions.

In the world of SARBAND, musicians from Bulgaria, Turkey, Lebanon, Iraq, Sweden, Great Britain, Italy and Germany perform together. The co-operation in the ensemble is no fashionable crossover session, but conceived as a continuous dialogue on equal terms. All artists unrestrictedly contribute their native traditions, their personal histories and their own creativity to the programmes. While today the religious, economic, cultural and political differences between the Orient and Occident are in the focus of attention, Sarband endeavour to show that music was always not only mere decoration, but an enlightened means of mutual respect and can still be that today: an example for understanding and acceptance, a model of peace. The ensemble takes its audience on a journey through space and time, through religions and cultures. It is a journey, on which you can leave behind the customary ways of thinking and the traditional concert experience. ... "

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Added on: Feb 23, 2008 | Hits: 317

"The Mozartean Players, founded in 1979, is one of the oldest continuously active early-music organizations in America. It is also one of the most distinguished, as measured by all criteria: critical response, the breadth and volume of its performing history, the distinction of the auspices that have welcomed it, the influence it has borne on other musicians, and the quality of its recorded legacy.

The current configuration of the group as a piano trio is comprised of Steven Lubin, fortepiano, Anca Nicolau, violin, and Myron Lutzke, cello. The group's repertoire spans the era from Haydn through Schumann, the period during which the piano, starting as the delicate, five-octave, wooden-frame instrument of the classical period, changed gradually into the larger, early-romantic piano. A large proportion of the group's touring has involved Mr. Lubin's readily transportable five-octave Walter fortepiano replica, performing trios of Haydn, Mozart and early Beethoven. By special arrangement, the group also tours with its romantic Graf piano replica (both replicas by R.J. Regier), offering works by the later Beethoven, Schubert, Mendelssohn and Schumann. The stringed instruments are accordingly in period disposition. " Visit website for more information. (ed.)

Added on: Aug 06, 2008 | Hits: 317

“Concerto Italiano began its activity in 1984 at Teatro Ghione in Rome with a concert performance of Francesco Cavalli's Calisto. In twenty five years of concert activity all over the world the ensemble was able to renew the approach of the performance of Italian Music, especially in the case of Monteverdi and Vivaldi, at times suggesting models of execution which have become paradigmatic. In the case Bach, the ensemble has garnered approval even from the most demanding traditionalist public. Today Concerto Italiano continues to pursue in its investigation of Italian musical culture an unceasing examination of a musical language which is evermore evidently and indissolubly linked to the cultural and linquistic values of 16th and 17th Italy.“

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Added on: Apr 24, 2011 | Hits: 317