News Archive List
George Frideric Handel, center, and King George I on the River Thames in July 1717, painted by Edouard Hamman. The Lives of George Frideric Handel. David Hunter. Boydell and Brewer, 2015. 536 pages. By Mark Kroll BOOK REVIEW — Do we really need another biography of George Frideric Handel? Thi …
Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra and Chamber Choir after performing Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony under Bruno Weill. (Photo by Christina Gapic) Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra and Chamber Choir; Sigrid Plundrich, soprano; Mary-Ellen Nesi, mezzo-soprano; Colin Balzer, tenor; Si …
This week, the admired German-born multiple threat — recorder and baroque flute player, composer, conductor — begins his first season as artistic director of the Bach Society of Minnesota, one of the oldest Bach societies in 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 …
It was not without a small dose of trepidation that the Boston Camerata accepted a tour engagement in July 2016 in one of the most remote and least developed regions of Brazil — the sub-equatorial Nordeste. The area is noted for its hot, humid climate, elevated levels of poverty, and relative isolat …
Piffaro’s interest in the music of Spain has been a touchstone over its thirty-plus years of operation. Presenting “The Musical World of Don Quixote” on October 8 and 9 will be a chance for the musicians to continue a long-time fascination with these Spanish treasure-troves—and to provide a worthy a …
The album centers on the lute as both an heir to tradition and a living, breathing instrument. It features Ronn McFarlane (lute), Brian Kay (vocals and komuz, a fretless stringed instrument), Willard Morris (colascione, a relative of the bass lute), and Mattias Rucht (percussion).
In “La Mascarade,” the Norwegian theorbo player and baroque guitarist Rolf Lislevand gives us a personal statement that mixes not only two composers but also two instruments: theorbo for the music of Robert de Visée (mostly taken from the 1699 Vaudry de Saizenay manuscript) and baroque guitar for th …
“Go to as many workshops and festivals as you can, and attend as many live performances as you can! The early music community is one of the most supportive and generous art music communities I have ever experienced; so many professionals have so much to share. Also, study folk music!”
