April 2006

Istanbul International Music Festival Part 3–Il Complesso Barocco

NOTE: Continuing our review of the 2005 Istanbul Festival, we'll hear some of the arias and solo songs of Handel featuring the ensemble Il Complesso Barocco directed by Alan Curtis. This program reflects the recording La Maga Abbandonata ("The abandoned sorceress") which features soprano Simone Kermes and Contralto Maite Beaumont. It is a collaboration between Alan Curtis and mystery writer Donna Leon using three Handel operas with seductive and destructive sorceress characters.

Composer: ldo (1711), Alcina (1735), Amadigi (1715)

CD Info: Deutsche Harmonia Mundi/BMG CD 74321 95644 2.

Istanbul International Music Festival Part 2–Phantasm

NOTE: This week, we look back at the Istanbul International Music Festival 2005, with performances of Elizabethan consort music by the international viol ensemble Phantasm. The material for this program is found on the recent recording The Four Temperaments on the Avie label, CD AV2054.

Composer: Robert Parsons (c. 1530-1571), Alfonso Ferrabosco the Elder (1543-1588), Thomas Tallis (c. 1505-1585), William Byrd (c. 1539-1623)

CD Info: CD AV2054

Istanbul International Music Festival Part 1–Sound of the Three Seas

Note: The music on this program highlights one of the most unusual recordings to unite old instruments and the modern orchestra. This special presentation is to celebrate the Istanbul International Music Festival 2005.

Composer:

CD Info: CD # 099709-04524

Holy Week 2006: Abbey of Solesmes

NOTE: All of the music on these programs are from discs produced by the Choir of the Monks of the Abbey of Saint-Pierre de Solesmes.

Composer:

CD Info: Easter disc 822 (from LP 622) and Eastertide 825 (from LP 625)

Holy Week 2006

For the 27th anniversary program of Millennium, we will return to how it began, with chant for Eastertide. And, happily, the same group with whom we initiated the program, the Choir of the Monks of the Abbey of Saint-Pierre de Solesmes, are now releasing self-produced discs!

Composer:

CD Info: Easter disc 822 (from LP 622) and Eastertide 825 (from LP 625)