Early Music America

Some singers credit managerial help for their rise to the top. Amanda Forsythe, in contrast, has actual bloodsuckers to thank. She can pinpoint the exact moment when she opted for a career in music—and it did not happen while basking in the spotlight’s acclaim. Instead, it came when she was tired, w …

The Bach and Beethoven Ensemble, based in Chicago, will present the first U.S. performances of “The Gentle Shepherd” since 1798 on Sept. 24 and 25 at two locations. The opera’s libretto, published in 1725 by the poet Allan Ramsay, is set to Scottish folk and fiddle music. A period-instrument orchest …

If there is such a thing as a typical person who makes bassoons from scratch, Leslie Ross would not be it. She does not make modern bassoons, which first were developed in the late 19th century, are made strictly from maple, and have an interior lining of hard rubber. Ross makes replicas of historic …

Medieval courtship brings to mind images of chivalrous knights worshipping fair damsels, expressing their love for their ladies in refined and poetic language. But courtship did not play out this way for all medieval knights. Neidhart von Reuental (1190-1237), a medieval German poet, composed songs …