Reviews by the editorial staff of Early Music America. Have a new recording or book? Submit it for consideration.
Musica Secreta’s Record of Love
On the hills outside Florence sits the convent of San Matteo in Arcetri, where nuns once supported themselves by spinning wool and making wine. But the heart of their lives was musical prayer. A bit of detective work connected two 16th c. nuns with a musical manuscript and, now, a glorious new recording.
Discovering Graupner on the Old Post Road
Boston's Musicians of the Old Post Road have again uncovered music by known composers whose works have been neglected. Their latest album is centered on Christoph Graupner (and a few contemporaries). Here the music is 'so vividly shaped and shot through with energy that the composer’s unique play of rhythm, texture, and harmony remain difficult to ignore.'
Life Lessons and Catholic Oratorio
Robert L. Kendrick's ambitious new monograph, a detailed look at the oratorio in Catholic Italy and Hapsburg Vienna, covers more than a century of repertoire, connecting Biblical stories — fratricide, child sacrifice, forbidden love, death — with political events and considers the social and moral impact on the listeners.
Solitude: Reginald Mobley Unplugged
American countertenor Reginald Mobley's much-anticipated second solo album, 'Solitude,' is a collection of mostly English songs, with familiar tunes and a few surprising additions. Backed by lutenist Brandon Acker and bassist Doug Balliett, it's music of substance and haunting beauty.
Burly, Bawdy, Full of Good Cheer: Haydn’s The Seasons
Haydn's oratorio 'The Seasons,' in a stunning new recording from Jordi Savall and his period-instrument Les Concert de Nations, is full of pastoral joy and almost-operatic drama, 'burly, occasionally bawdy, and chock-full of good cheer.'
The Searing Intensity of Gluck’s ‘Orphée et Eurydice’
Gluck's 'Orphée et Eurydice,' in its Paris version, caused a sensation 250 years ago and a new recording from Les Arts Florissants captures that vitality. The strength of this recording serves as 'a corrective to the dominance of the Italian version in modern performance.'
The Drama and Tensions of Opera and Theater
Historians over the past two centuries have tended to think of opera and tragic theater as developing along separate lines. This new collection of essays attempts to show developmental connections between them, as well as with other influential forms of opera and theater in the 17th and 18th century.
First Listen: New Flute Music by Marin Marais
French flutist François Lazarevitch and Les Musiciens de Saint-Julien have released the first professional recording of a recent discovery: flute music by Marin Maris that was unknown till 2023. It's music of 'exceptionally high quality.'
A Shimmering Mirage from Kansas City Chorale
The latest recording from conductor Charles Bruffy and his Kansas City Chorale celebrates Marco Polo by connecting East with West. A recent reconstruction of music from Renaissance Spain pairs with Asian folk and art songs from China, India, and Mongolia.
Play, Music! Songs from Shakespeare
Shakespeare's plays are rich in song, with productions at the Globe Theatre featuring musically trained actors and a small instrumental band. We have the texts, but there is no surviving music from any of the Bard's plays. A new recording from the ensemble Theatro finds 'lost' songs from a range of sources, including popular Elizabethan songs.

