Throughout European history, the lament has been associated with women. The outstanding Cappella Artemisia, led by Candace Smith, turns its attention to this mournful weeping and the Italian convents of the 16th and 17th c.

The New York Baroque Dance Co. and its co-founder, Catherine Turocy, celebrate a half-century of bringing historical dance to stages across America and Europe. They’ve set the high standard for Baroque dance performed in the U.S.

The newest recording from Baroque Music Montana collects sacred and profane love songs and virtuosic instrumental works from the early Baroque. With soprano, violin, dulcian, and lute, it makes an unfamiliar, often enchanting, combination and sets their sound apart.

At his death, J.S. Bach owned two mellow-toned keyboard instruments called lautenwerk or lute-harpsichord, and wrote (and transcribed) music for it. Charlotte Mattax Moersch’s latest recording is devoted to this unique but forever-obscure instrument, including a Bach original and transcriptions by her teacher, Gustav Leonhardt.