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When the Clarinet Got Interesting

At EMA’s 2023 Emerging Artists Showcase, the brilliant duo of historical clarinetist Maryse Legault and fortepianist Gili Loftus gave a taste of their album ‘Around Baermann.’ The recording looks into a key era in the clarinet’s history, centered on celebrated clarinetist Heinrich Joseph Baermann, who inspired music from great composers and helped push the instrument into new technical and virtuosic realms.

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Canto: Baroque Opera and Drag, a Natural Match

‘The kinds of roles written for my voice type, as an operatic bass,’ writes Michael Galvin in a personal essay, ‘have never fit the roles that have excited me as a stage performer. It’s why I’ve been so drawn to early music — the farther back one goes in history, the more the lines blur between what is prescribed and what is possible.’

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Shakespeare’s Music, Where the Lying is Easy

Seven Times Salt’s latest recording revisits music of Shakespeare’s time. Some of the tunes are linked to specific plays — ‘Hamlet’ is a particular fascination — while others are suggestive of a theme or a familiar plotline, from ‘Romeo and Juliet’ to ‘The Merchant of Venice.’ All of it is beautifully delivered, often in charming arrangements. And the sonic engineering makes for a vivid listening experience.

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A Teenage Mystic, a Revelation from God, and Bossy Parents: the Academy of Sacred Drama Revives a Lost Oratorio

Biblical oratorios by Handel and Bach are cornerstones of a vast repertoire filled with forgotten treasures. New York’s Academy of Sacred Drama is reviving these often-gorgeous obscurities, one show at a time. Led by violinist Jeremy Rhizor, their latest discovery is ‘Santa Maria Maddalena de’ Pazzi,’ with performances this week. ‘The oratorios exist as literary narratives as well as stories of Biblical histories and lessons.’

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Showcasing The Fooles from EMA’s Boston Summit

You can now watch EMA’s extraordinary 2023 Emerging Artists Showcase, with three headliners. To introduce their performance, a member of The Fooles here offers insights into new postures and techniques required of this 17th-c. repertoire. And period-instrument ensembles everywhere should take note of their brilliant tuning regimen, where tuning fickle instruments isn’t a disruption but an engaging part of the show.

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