Live recording of a concert from St. Georgen am Längsee Abbey in Carinthia on June 28, 2003: La Festa presents virtuoso Italian Baroque music with works by Monteverdi and Caccini, combined with traditional tarantellas. Passionate and extraordinarily lively, the Accordone ensemble, led by singer Marco Beasley and harpsichordist Guido Morini, conjures up the spirit of a 17th-century festival. A rousing recording full of improvisational flashes of genius!
Capella de la Torre, one of Europe's most renowned early music ensembles, is starting a new chapter: future projects will be released on the Prospero Classical label. This exciting collaboration kicks off with the anniversary album 20 Years of Capella de la Torre, which will be released in the form of a high-quality digipack. With this recording, the ensemble celebrates two decades of intensive artistic work, numerous award-winning projects, and tireless curiosity about the sound worlds of the Renaissance and early Baroque, licensed by Sony Classical.
Marc-Antoine Charpentier, with his Messe a quatre choeurs, delivers a unique work that reflects a rare encounter between French tradition and the splendor of Roman Baroque. Inspired by the grand polychoral works of Gabrieli and Benevoli whom he listened to attentively during his stay in Italy he unfolds a choral dialogue of exceptional breadth. Four vocal and instrumental ensembles face each other, respond, and intertwine in a play of echoes and timbres that transcends the liturgical space. Jean-Baptiste Nicolas brings an exalted momentum to this masterpiece of sacred music, combining stylistic precision with interpretative finesse.
RossoPorpora made it's Arcana debut with an album dedicated to Luca Marenzio, which received widespread critical acclaim, including the German Record Critics' Award, Classic Voice's Disc of the Month, a Diapason rating of 5, and five-star reviews from Musica and Amadeus. It was described as "magnificent" by Early Music Review and hailed as "a desert island disc" by Forum Opera. Now, with it's second album, the ensemble turns to one of the cornerstones of 17th-century music: Claudio Monteverdi's Sixth Book of Madrigals. In a deeply immersive exploration of the composer's inner world during his final years in Mantua, RossoPorpora delivers a profoundly moving interpretation of the many masterpieces contained in the collection-Lamento d'Arianna, Lagrime d'Amante sul sepolcro dell'Amata, Zefiro torna, Oime 'l bel viso, Qui rise o Tirsi-which together mark one of the highest achievements in the history of the madrigal.
Ménestrel-the Canadian early music ensemble of soprano-violinist Janelle Lucyk and tenor-lutenist Kerry Bursey-mix ancient repertoire with Canadian oral folk traditions. In an age defined by acceleration and artifice, their debut album, Ménestrel, reaches backward, not to escape the modern world, but to examine it's emotional roots. They gather songs drawn from several centuries and traditions, from the luminous melancholy of John Dowland to the ardent intimacy of Barbara Strozzi, from the refined contours of French Renaissance chanson to the rugged sincerity of Celtic and English folk ballads. The name ménestrel refers to the medieval minstrel, a musician who moved between written and oral traditions and carried songs across regions and generations. Janelle and Kerry draw on that lineage as they bring early music and folk repertoire into close conversation. Their approach highlights the continuity between these traditions, focusing on clarity, text, and the shared expressiveness that links courtly song with vernacular melody. Formed in 2019, Ménestrel bridges historical performance and Canadian oral folk traditions, and the ensemble has given performances and collaborated with singers and choirs in all of Canada's 13 provinces and territories. Janelle Lucyk is a singer and producer among an emerging generation of Canadian artists specializing in early music and historically informed performance, taking ideas from conception to the stage. Kerry Bursey is a tenor and plucked string instrumentalist whose voice is appreciated for it's luminous quality, and as a sought-after lutenist, he is also invested in the rare practice of self-accompaniment in early and folk music of northwestern traditions. Their concerts aim to demystify early music, juxtaposing it next to folk songs, which are songs of the people.
The oratorios of Giacomo Carissimi (1605-1674) are seminal works in the early history of a genre that combines sacred narrative, theatrical expression, and musical virtuosity to create a new, dramatic form. Of the mostly Old Testament stories to which Carissimi's oratorios refer, the vivid tale of Jonah stands out. During his divine mission at sea, the biblical hero is caught in a storm and swallowed by a whale. Carissimi shapes this material into a fast-paced plot with emotionally powerful solo recitatives, interspersed with a complex array of choral passages-including a striking double chorus depicting the storm. Who better to interpret Carissimi's expressive music than Giovanni Antonini, one of the foremost conductors on the period-instrument scene? The performance also features the historically informed performance ensemble Il Giardino Armonico, with instrumentation specially adapted to the Bavarian Radio Chorus and the unique tonal qualities of the oratorio. It's artistic director Giovanni Antonini has worked with the Bavarian Radio Chorus for many years, with critically acclaimed concerts featuring works ranging from the early Baroque period to the First Viennese School-and he also finds the perfect sound for Carissimi's music. With choral music by Claudio Monteverdi and Orlando di Lasso, this album also traces the development of dramatic vocal music in the transition from the late Renaissance motet to the more emotionally expressive interpretations of the early Baroque period. The famous Lamento d'Arianna is the only surviving piece from the lost opera Ariadne by Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643), who reworked this lament into an equally expressive madrigal in 1610. Excerpts from the two legendary and mysterious cycles Prophetiae Sibyllarum and Lagrime di San Pietro by the Wittelsbach court composer Orlando di Lasso (1532-1594) conclude the album, allowing us to experience masterpieces of the motet style, to which the Bavarian Radio Chorus regularly devotes itself in historically informed performances. With it's powerful double-choir storm scene, the oratorio Jonah is a highlight of high Baroque choral music. Carissimi's oratorios are key milestones in the development of the genre. Featuring the renowned early music ensemble Il Giardino Armonico, led by Giovanni Antonini, with whom the BR Chorus has already performed programmes to high acclaim, this release also includes the madrigal version of the legendary Lamento d'Arianna by Claudio Monteverdi, the master of early Baroque opera. Also including excerpts from two important cycles of works by the Munich Renaissance master composer Orlando di Lasso, this dynamic live recording captures performances in Munich's Prinzregententheater.
In Monteverdi's Lament, the Erik Westberg Vocal Ensemble presents two contemporary works that reimagine poetry and music connected to the legacy of Claudio Monteverdi. Drawing on 17th-century sources, these compositions set historical and contemporary choir music in dialogue with interactive technologies and the hyperorgan-an instrument enhanced with digital control functions that allow performance beyond the traditional keyboard. The result is an exploration of the creative tension between past and present, echoing the spirit of innovation that shaped Monteverdi's music in the early 1600s. Carl Unander-Scharin's Lamento è più takes inspiration from Ottavio Rinuccini's libretto for the lost opera Arianna, originally set by Monteverdi in 1607. Created in collaboration with choreographer Åsa Unander-Scharin, this 2023 work expands the expressive potential of the 17th-century text through a dynamic interplay of choreography, choir, and hyperorgan.
