Viol players today might know the music of English Tudor composer William Whyte, even as his biography remains a mystery. In this vivid new recording, New York’s Abendmusik has finally committed Whyte’s complete consorts to disc and make a compelling case for his music.
It’s All Just ‘Whyte Noyse’ Read More »
An impressive and valuable new book, ‘The Cambridge Companion to Seventeenth-Century Opera,’ traces the origins and development of opera, from the 16th through cusp of the 18th centuries. More than a dozen scholars contribute essays, covering Florence and Paris as expected, but also with insightful histories on English, German, and the Spanish territories (including in the Western Hemisphere).
Telling the Origin Stories: Opera in the 17th century Read More »
Are clothes of the period part of a historically accurate performance? Opinions vary about what constitutes an acceptable period outfit, but advocates of historical attire in early music have one thing in common: They believe the costume helps enrich the music’s context.
Period Instruments? Yes. Period Costumes? Uh… Read More »
Britain’s King Charles II had a French-born mistress, Lady Louise. In their remarkable debut recording, Ensemble Leviathan explores music of her orbit and influence, from the ‘rustick’ to songs of madness and mourning.
King Charles’ Musical Mistress Read More »
Gambist Laura Jeppesen and theorbist Catherine Liddell revel in the nocturnal sounds of Marin Marais, mixing and matching movements from the composer’s different suites. What follows is a performance of alluring introspection and tenderness.
‘Marais at Midnight,’ Fit for a King Read More »
