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.
Play, Music! Songs from Shakespeare Read More »
Norwegian conductor Grete Pedersen is in demand everywhere just now. A finalist for the Bay Area’s Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, she’ll become principal conductor of the Yale Schola Cantorum starting in 2026 and has been at the helm of the idyllic Carmel Bach Festival for the past three seasons. In a conversation along Carmel Beach, she talked about her organic approaches to early music.
‘Soul’ Between the Notes: Grete Pedersen on Historical Performance Read More »
The premise of these essays on the beginnings of French opera isn’t so much about the expected topics — composers and repertoire — but about the Académie royale de musique, the complicated, personality-rich institution that managed and shaped how the burgeoning art form evolved. It’s a rewarding approach when viewed as “an almost ideal example of tradition building.”
The Hothouse Origins of French Opera Read More »
Haitham Haidar, a fast-rising Canadian tenor of Lebanese and Palestinian roots, finds ‘connections between what we generally view as separate worlds.’ He describes his debut album, ‘Zaytoun’ — ‘olive’ in Arabic — as joining ‘the heart and soul of my Arabic roots with my love and dedication to Baroque music.’
Haitham Haidar, Singing from Two Worlds Read More »
A new recording from the ever-musical Flanders Recorder Duo celebrates the 99th anniversary of the International Pipers’ Guild, an effort to provide inexpensive instruments for students. Soon these pipes were made by the kids themselves. From Medieval music to Bach and Vaughan Williams, the Flanders Duo show us the sweet charms of this most basic of instruments.
Almost-a-Century Celebration for Bamboo Pipers Read More »
