This latest release from Singer Pur features music by Ludwig Senfl. The vocal ensemble blends five male voices with a soprano. It gives Senfl’s music a brightness I’m not used to hearing — but I like very much. Ludwig Senfl studied with Heinrich Isaac and was active in the early 1500s. He was music director […]
early music
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La Compagnia del Madrigale completes Gesualdo cycle
Carlo Gesualdo murdered his wife and her lover. That’s pretty much all most people know about this Renaissance composer — if anything. This release presents Gesualdo’s first book of madrigals. It was published around the time of the murders. There’s no question Gesualdo was a tortured soul. He abused both his first and second wives. […]
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Classical Interviews – Jeanette Sorrell and Apollo’s Fire
Jeanette Sorrell is the Founder and Artistic Director of Apollo’s Fire which is a baroque orchestra with a vibrant, lively sound that has won awards, including a Grammy and a large, global following. She grew up playing the piano and listening to composers like Bach and Vivaldi -but when she heard Baroque music as a […]
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Classical Interviews – Choral Evensong: Music of Heinrich Schütz, a Zephyrus service
WTJU’s Chelsea Holt spoke with Music Director Megan Sharp about Zephyrus’ upcoming service, Choral Evensong: Music of Heinrich Schütz. The service will take place at St. Paul’s Memorial Church at 7:30pm on Sunday, February 27. It will be free and open to the public. More from Zephyrus’ website: The evening prayer service is one of the […]
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The Dryades Consort deliver Caspar Othmayr’s Gifts
Caspar Othmayr was a theologian and composer of the early Protestant church. His 1549 Tricinia in pias offers a selection of musical virtues that address eight vices. The Dryades Consort uses this for a program celebrating both the vices and virtues. While Othmayr’s music provides the foundation, the consort pulls from other contemporary sources. There’s a significant […]
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An Elizabethan Christmas – Fretwork’s gift to all
Fretwork marks its 35th anniversary with this holiday release. Although “holiday release” hardly describes this album. The celebration of Christmas was quite different than it is today. In fact, it was quite different from the Victorian Christmas traditions that now define the holiday. Advent, the time leading up to Christmas, was a time for mediation, […]
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Renata Dubinskaite Gives Luminuous Performances of Barbara Strozzi
Renata Dubinskaite and the Canto Fiorito perform Barbara Strozzi’s solo vocal music. Strozzi was well-respected as a singer and composer in 17th Century Venice. Her father, Guilio Strozzi hosted salons of intellectuals and artists in his home. Barbara Strozzi performed at these salons, often singing her own compositions. Many of these works saw publication. Strozzi’s […]
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Engaging performances of Barbara Strozzi by Aurata Fonte
Barbara Strozzi (1619-1677) was a remarkable woman. This talented Venetian was a renowned singer and composer. She hosted gatherings in her father’s house for the city’s intellectuals and artists. This was her venue for performing. But she’s known today for something else — her music. Strozzi published eight collections of vocal music between 1644 and […]
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¡Sacabuche! Reveals Hidden Treasures from Bohemia
The early music ensemble ¡Sacabuche! presents a collection of music from the Habsburg Court. Giovanni Valenti, Antonio Bertali, and Pavel Josef Vejvonovsky may not be well-known today. But in the 1640s Bohemia, they were renowned for their instrumental virtuosity and composing skills. ¡Sacabuche! delivers some first-rate performances of this music. In addition to violin, theorbo, […]