Troubadour: 800 years of Song from Walther von der Vogelweide to Leonard Cohen

We will present highlights from our programms “Walther von der Vogelweide - Courtly Songs of the Middle Ages” and “A Day with Suzanne - A Tribute to Leonard Cohen with Renaissance Chanson”. Looking forward to this exceptional program uniting the Minnesinger Walther von der Vogelweide (ca. 1180-1230), whose poltical texts are especially timely, with music of Renaissance Chanson composers and connecting it to music of the modern troubadour, Leonard Cohen. Loosely used, a troubadour could be anyone singing a song, preferably his own, and perhaps accompanying himself on an instrument. More specifically, we can speak of troubadours and trouvères in Medieval music, without whose written music, passed down in manuscripts, we would have fewer melodies for Walthers songs. Cohen called himself a Chansonnier and I see myself in the larger picture, carrying the tradition along.

Ensemble Phoenix Munich:
Vincent Kibildis - Harp
Félix Verry - Fiddle
Emma-Lisa Roux - Lute, Voice
Hille Perl - Viola da Gamba
Domen Marinčič - Viola da Gamba 
Joel Frederiksen - Voice, Lute, Citole, Direction

My love, how beautiful you are - arias and cantatas by Schütz pupil Caspar Kittel

Sunday, March 30, 2025, 3 pm - Bavarian National Museum, Mars-Venus Hall

2 pm Pre-concert talk with Dr. Sven Schwannberger

Caspar Kittel (1603-1639) was a composer of the Baroque era who is rarely heard today. As a pupil of Heinrich Schütz, he was accepted into the Dresden court chapel and sent to study in Venice. He returned to the Dresden court as a theorbist and royal chamber singer and replaced Heinrich Schütz as director of the court chapel from 1638. His arias and cantatas for one to four voices were published in the same year. They are among the early examples of the stile nuovo, the modern, monodic style that Kittel brought with him from Italy to Dresden and had a significant influence on the development of the sacred and secular cantata in Germany.

Performers:
Hannah Ely - soprano
Michaela Riener - soprano
Ivo Haun - tenor, lute
Jacob Lawrence - tenor
Michael Eberth - harpsichord
Sven Schwannberger - theorbo, flute
Joel Frederiksen - bass, lute, conductor

3rd Concert of the XVII Series “Between Mars and Venus”

With the kind support of the Bavarian State Ministry of Science and the Arts and the District of Upper Bavaria.

Borrowed Light

Back in 1994 I made a CD with the Boston Camerata called “Simple Gifts” in an original Shaker Meeting House at Sabbathday Lake, Maine, wth the last remaining Shakers. The result was powerful and the CD became a bestseller. Later, the songs we recorded would be incorporated into a piece with modern dance. Although I sang on the original recording, I never performed the piece with dance, until now. I’m looking forwar to it!

In collaboration with the Tero Saarinen Company (TSC), Borrowed Light captures the ritualistic essence of dance and the profound strength of community. Inspired by the radical Shaker movement of the 1700s and 1800s, the work explores total surrender and devotion to a community. The live performance of original Shaker hymns by The Boston Camerata fills the space with ethereal harmonies that echo through the repetitive rituals of the movement. Collective identity can carry towards something greater, but at what point do its rigid values push the individual to the very limits of their devotion?

Borrowed Light

Back in 1994 I made a CD with the Boston Camerata called “Simple Gifts” in an original Shaker Meeting House at Sabbathday Lake, Maine, wth the last remaining Shakers. The result was powerful and the CD became a bestseller. Later, the songs we recorded would be incorporated into a piece with modern dance. Although I sang on the original recording, I never performed the piece with dance, until now. I’m looking forwar to it!

In collaboration with the Tero Saarinen Company (TSC), Borrowed Light captures the ritualistic essence of dance and the profound strength of community. Inspired by the radical Shaker movement of the 1700s and 1800s, the work explores total surrender and devotion to a community. The live performance of original Shaker hymns by The Boston Camerata fills the space with ethereal harmonies that echo through the repetitive rituals of the movement. Collective identity can carry towards something greater, but at what point do its rigid values push the individual to the very limits of their devotion?

Borrowed Light

Back in 1994 I made a CD with the Boston Camerata called “Simple Gifts” in an original Shaker Meeting House at Sabbathday Lake, Maine, wth the last remaining Shakers. The result was powerful and the CD became a bestseller. Later, the songs we recorded would be incorporated into a piece with modern dance. Although I sang on the original recording, I never performed the piece with dance, until now. I’m looking forwar to it!

In collaboration with the Tero Saarinen Company (TSC), Borrowed Light captures the ritualistic essence of dance and the profound strength of community. Inspired by the radical Shaker movement of the 1700s and 1800s, the work explores total surrender and devotion to a community. The live performance of original Shaker hymns by The Boston Camerata fills the space with ethereal harmonies that echo through the repetitive rituals of the movement. Collective identity can carry towards something greater, but at what point do its rigid values push the individual to the very limits of their devotion?

Borrowed Light

Back in 1994 I made a CD with the Boston Camerata called “Simple Gifts” in an original Shaker Meeting House at Sabbathday Lake, Maine, wth the last remaining Shakers. The result was powerful and the CD became a bestseller. Later, the songs we recorded would be incorporated into a piece with modern dance. Although I sang on the original recording, I never performed the piece with dance, until now. I’m looking forwar to it!

In collaboration with the Tero Saarinen Company (TSC), Borrowed Light captures the ritualistic essence of dance and the profound strength of community. Inspired by the radical Shaker movement of the 1700s and 1800s, the work explores total surrender and devotion to a community. The live performance of original Shaker hymns by The Boston Camerata fills the space with ethereal harmonies that echo through the repetitive rituals of the movement. Collective identity can carry towards something greater, but at what point do its rigid values push the individual to the very limits of their devotion?

Borrowed Light

Back in 1994 I made a CD with the Boston Camerata called “Simple Gifts” in an original Shaker Meeting House at Sabbathday Lake, Maine, wth the last remaining Shakers. The result was powerful and the CD became a bestseller. Later, the songs we recorded would be incorporated into a piece with modern dance. Although I sang on the original recording, I never performed the piece with dance, until now. I’m looking forwar to it!

In collaboration with the Tero Saarinen Company (TSC), Borrowed Light captures the ritualistic essence of dance and the profound strength of community. Inspired by the radical Shaker movement of the 1700s and 1800s, the work explores total surrender and devotion to a community. The live performance of original Shaker hymns by The Boston Camerata fills the space with ethereal harmonies that echo through the repetitive rituals of the movement. Collective identity can carry towards something greater, but at what point do its rigid values push the individual to the very limits of their devotion?

Borrowed Light

Back in 1994 I made a CD with the Boston Camerata called “Simple Gifts” in an original Shaker Meeting House at Sabbathday Lake, Maine, wth the last remaining Shakers. The result was powerful and the CD became a bestseller. Later, the songs we recorded would be incorporated into a piece with modern dance. Although I sang on the original recording, I never performed the piece with dance, until now. I’m looking forwar to it!

In collaboration with the Tero Saarinen Company (TSC), Borrowed Light captures the ritualistic essence of dance and the profound strength of community. Inspired by the radical Shaker movement of the 1700s and 1800s, the work explores total surrender and devotion to a community. The live performance of original Shaker hymns by The Boston Camerata fills the space with ethereal harmonies that echo through the repetitive rituals of the movement. Collective identity can carry towards something greater, but at what point do its rigid values push the individual to the very limits of their devotion?

Borrowed Light

Back in 1994 I made a CD with the Boston Camerata called “Simple Gifts” in an original Shaker Meeting House at Sabbathday Lake, Maine, wth the last remaining Shakers. The result was powerful and the CD became a bestseller. Later, the songs we recorded would be incorporated into a piece with modern dance. Although I sang on the original recording, I never performed the piece with dance, until now. I’m looking forwar to it!

In collaboration with the Tero Saarinen Company (TSC), Borrowed Light captures the ritualistic essence of dance and the profound strength of community. Inspired by the radical Shaker movement of the 1700s and 1800s, the work explores total surrender and devotion to a community. The live performance of original Shaker hymns by The Boston Camerata fills the space with ethereal harmonies that echo through the repetitive rituals of the movement. Collective identity can carry towards something greater, but at what point do its rigid values push the individual to the very limits of their devotion?

Franz Schubert: Die Winterreise (The Winter Journey)

Pre-Concert Lecture: Jan Golch (LMU) at 7 pm

Based on texts by Wilhelm Müller, Franz Schubert completed the monumental song cycle "Die Winterreise" (Op. 89) in the fall of 1827, one year before his death. The 24 songs in the cycle contain some of his greatest works. Schubert was particularly proud of these songs and wrote to his friend and fellow composer Josef von Spaun: "I will sing you a cycle of haunting songs. I am eager to see what you have to say about them. They have affected me more deeply than any other songs ever have." Spaun reported: "He now sang us through the whole of 'Winterreise' with an impassioned voice. We were completely taken aback by the sombre mood of these songs." The bleakness and desolation of the landscape sung about by the traveler, who tells of happy days in a summer of love and then of lost love, the barren trees, the snow, the dogs chasing him out of the village, the crows perched in the trees, the organ grinder playing his ghostly melody in a swirl of snow, left them perplexed.

The facsimile of the autograph (1827) and the Urtext edition are being used to prepare this performance. Schubert himself transposed his works, and the songs of Winterreise exist in different keys. We will perform the cycle in the version for bass voice. Some ornamentation will be subtly added to the vocal part, as Schubert and his singer Johann Michael Vogl did. As carefully as we approach the performance practice of the early repertoire, we also proceed with the same sensitivity when interpreting early romantic music. Joel Frederiksen will be accompanied by an historical fortepiano, as Schubert might have played.

Performers:

Joel Frederiksen - Bass
Lukas Sehr - Fortepiano

2nd concert of the XVII series "Between Mars and Venus"

With the kind support of the Bavarian State Ministry of Science and the Arts and the District of Upper Bavaria.

Lecture: Le Nuove Musiche and the art of self-accompanied monody

The preface to Giulio Caccini's “Le nuove Musiche” (1601) is a philosophical statement and an irreplaceable source of reference for us in the interpretation of baroque monody. We will take a closer look at Caccini's ideas, including his plea for self-accompaniment as the most affective form of performance.

Tage Alter Musik 2025 / Early music Days 2025

Forum historische Musikinstrumente / Forum for historical musical instruments

Vocal and instrumental Monodie

22 - 26 January 2025
Organizer and venue: Germanisches Nationalmuseum and Nuremberg University of Music

Contact: Dr. Frank P. Bär

Programm und Infos

Daniel: A Medieval Masterpiece Revisited

The fiery prophecies of Daniel, young captive in corrupt Babylon, ring forth again. This stunning, contemporary new production by Anne Azéma of the greatest musical play from the French Middle Ages involves lights, movement, urgent poetry, and a sterling cast including seasoned professionals, children, and Longy School of Music of Bard College students, to make 1310 happen again, in 2025. Our singers and musicians are supported by Peter Torpey’s deeply evocative lighting and special effects.

In Dulci Jubilo

I will be joining my friends with the Boston Camerata for this concert of music for Christmas.

In the European North, the forests are deep; the nights are dark and long. Perhaps this is why, in reaction, the early Christmas music of the German-speaking peoples is so intensely joyful and profoundly rich. Our program explores the marvelous music of German Christmas festivity through chants and chorales, simple carols, grandiose polyphony, and instrumental fantasias of the 15th to early 17th centuries.

Claudio Monteverdi – Beatus Vir
Amor sacro & amor profano

I have been directing a new, ambitious amateur ensemble in Munich for a few years now. They sing Renaissance and early Baroque music, almost always a capella. This time we are devoting two concerts to Monteverdi and will perform a capella madrigals and pieces accompmanied by instruments! Very beautiful music with a unique sound.

Claudio Monteverdi is one of the great pioneers behind the musical revolution at the end of the Renaissance. To mark the anniversary of his death, we are presenting choral works and solo pieces that reflect the broad spectrum of his musical expression and tell of amor profano - secular love - and amor sacro - sacred love. In his musical universe, Monteverdi makes the transition from the so-called prima pratica, the strict polyphony of the Renaissance, to the seconda pratica, in which emotion and textual expression take center stage.

About the ensemble 'versum vocale

'versum vocale is an a cappella ensemble for early music from Munich under the direction of the singer and lutenist Joel Frederiksen. With a variable line-up of eight to twelve passionate singers, the ensemble strives for a high level of sound, devotes itself primarily to polyphonic Renaissance music and also performs lesser-known musical treasures.

Singers

Soprano: Malin Eiband, Bryony Lang

Alto: Katharina Preller, Sarah Park, Katharina Starzer

Tenor: Friedrich Esch, Thomas Padel

Bass: Robert Schmidt, Florian Eggers

Instruments:

Violin: Rita Brunner, Anne Powell

Baroque cello: Christine Winkelmann

Violone: Jerker Kluge

Theorbo: Jochen Schnapka

Harpsichord: Eglė Rudokaitė

versumvocale.de

versumvocale@gmail.com

Claudio Monteverdi – Beatus Vir
Amor sacro & amor profano

I have been directing a new, ambitious amateur ensemble in Munich for a few years now. They sing Renaissance and early Baroque music, almost always a capella. This time we are devoting two concerts to Monteverdi and will perform a capella madrigals and pieces accompmanied by instruments! Very beautiful music with a unique sound.

Claudio Monteverdi is one of the great pioneers behind the musical revolution at the end of the Renaissance. To mark the anniversary of his death, we are presenting choral works and solo pieces that reflect the broad spectrum of his musical expression and tell of amor profano - secular love - and amor sacro - sacred love. In his musical universe, Monteverdi makes the transition from the so-called prima pratica, the strict polyphony of the Renaissance, to the seconda pratica, in which emotion and textual expression take center stage.

About the ensemble 'versum vocale

'versum vocale is an a cappella ensemble for early music from Munich under the direction of the singer and lutenist Joel Frederiksen. With a variable line-up of eight to twelve passionate singers, the ensemble strives for a high level of sound, devotes itself primarily to polyphonic Renaissance music and also performs lesser-known musical treasures.

Singers

Soprano: Malin Eiband, Bryony Lang

Alto: Katharina Preller, Sarah Park, Katharina Starzer

Tenor: Friedrich Esch, Thomas Padel

Bass: Robert Schmidt, Florian Eggers

Instruments:

Violin: Rita Brunner, Anne Powell

Baroque cello: Christine Winkelmann

Violone: Jerker Kluge

Theorbo: Jochen Schnapka

Harpsichord: Eglė Rudokaitė

versumvocale.de

versumvocale@gmail.com

Margherita, Settimia and Francesca Caccini - Giulio Caccini's wife and two daughters

3 pm preconcert talk (in German): Dr. Christine Fischer (Basel)

Inspired by the popular female vocal trio "Concerto delle donne" from Ferrara, Giulio Caccini founded a professional female vocal ensemble called "Donne di Caccini" in Florence at the instigation of his prince, in which his second wife Margherita della Scala, his daughters Settimia and Francesca and selected female pupils performed. After a concert at the Parisian court around 1604, the French King Henry VI was so impressed that he wanted to take the "Concerto Caccini" into his service. His efforts failed due to the resistance of Prince Ferdinando de' Medici, who, in order to keep Francesca Caccini, officially employed her as a court musician for the Medici in 1607 with a generous salary. In the 1620s, she was the Medici's best-paid musician: singer, instrumentalist, teacher and composer. The marriage of her sister Settimia and her move to the court of the Gonzagas in Mantua led to the dissolution of the ensemble. Both sisters were not only virtuoso, highly educated singers who accompanied their own singing with lute or guitar, but also composers. Only eight Italian monodies by Settimia with expressive melodies for voice with basso continuo accompaniment survive. Francesca Caccini published her "Il primo libro delle musiche" in 1618, a collection of thirty-six solo songs and soprano-bass duets. Her only surviving stage work "La liberazione di Ruggiero" is considered to be the first surviving opera by a female composer.

Giulio Caccini published his groundbreaking book "Le nuove musiche" in 1601. "The new music" and the treatise at the beginning of the book, in which Caccini explains the new style, influenced composers throughout Europe. Caccini accompanied himself with the chitarrone, probably sang tenor and wrote pieces for "tenor exploring the bass range", among others. For a particularly virtuoso bass, Melchior Palantrotti, Caccini wrote monodies with large vocal ranges and virtuoso coloratura. Caccini taught his wife and daughters, but also numerous other singers, including the three ladies of Ferrara, to whom the EPM has already dedicated a concert (Musica Secreta, May 2019).

This concert will also be interactive with the Bavarian National Museum. At the beginning, visitors will be guided through the museum in small groups in order to discover and get to know the individual musicians, who embody individual figures, solo at various locations. In this way, the "new" baroque music is brought to life in the magnificent museum collections, appropriate to the theme. At the end, all visitors come together with the entire ensemble for the crowning finale.

Performers:
Margherita Caccini: Tanja Vogrin - soprano, harp
Settimia Caccini: Emma-Lisa Roux - soprano, lute, theorbo
Francesca Caccini: Lucine Musaelian - soprano, viola da gamba
Giulio Caccini: Mario Lesiak - tenor, lute
Melchior Palantrotti: Joel Frederiksen - bass, archlute, conductor
Ferdinando de' Medici: Michael Eberth - harpsichord

1st Concert of the XVII Series “Between Mars and Venus”

With the kind support of the Bavarian State Ministry of Science and the Arts and the District of Upper Bavaria.

Margherita, Settimia and Francesca Caccini - Giulio Caccini's wife and two daughters

Inspired by the popular female vocal trio "Concerto delle donne" from Ferrara, Giulio Caccini founded a professional female vocal ensemble called "Donne di Caccini" in Florence at the instigation of his prince, in which his second wife Margherita della Scala, his daughters Settimia and Francesca and selected female pupils performed. After a concert at the Parisian court around 1604, the French King Henry VI was so impressed that he wanted to take the "Concerto Caccini" into his service. His efforts failed due to the resistance of Prince Ferdinando de' Medici, who, in order to keep Francesca Caccini, officially employed her as a court musician for the Medici in 1607 with a generous salary. In the 1620s, she was the Medici's best-paid musician: singer, instrumentalist, teacher and composer. The marriage of her sister Settimia and her move to the court of the Gonzagas in Mantua led to the dissolution of the ensemble. Both sisters were not only virtuoso, highly educated singers who accompanied their own singing with lute or guitar, but also composers. Only eight Italian monodies by Settimia with expressive melodies for voice with basso continuo accompaniment survive. Francesca Caccini published her "Il primo libro delle musiche" in 1618, a collection of thirty-six solo songs and soprano-bass duets. Her only surviving stage work "La liberazione di Ruggiero" is considered to be the first surviving opera by a female composer.

Giulio Caccini published his groundbreaking book "Le nuove musiche" in 1601. "The new music" and the treatise at the beginning of the book, in which Caccini explains the new style, influenced composers throughout Europe. Caccini accompanied himself with the chitarrone, probably sang tenor and wrote pieces for "tenor exploring the bass range", among others. For a particularly virtuoso bass, Melchior Palantrotti, Caccini wrote monodies with large vocal ranges and virtuoso coloratura. Caccini taught his wife and daughters, but also numerous other singers, including the three ladies of Ferrara, to whom the EPM has already dedicated a concert (Musica Secreta, May 2019).

This concert will also be interactive with the Bavarian National Museum. At the beginning, visitors will be guided through the museum in small groups in order to discover and get to know the individual musicians, who embody individual figures, solo at various locations. In this way, the "new" baroque music is brought to life in the magnificent museum collections, appropriate to the theme. At the end, all visitors come together with the entire ensemble for the crowning finale.

Performers:
Margherita Caccini: Tanja Vogrin - soprano, harp
Settimia Caccini: Emma-Lisa Roux - soprano, lute, theorbo
Francesca Caccini: Lucine Musaelian - soprano, viola da gamba
Giulio Caccini: Mario Lesiak - tenor, lute
Melchior Palantrotti: Joel Frederiksen - bass, archlute, conductor
Ferdinando de' Medici: Michael Eberth - harpsichord

Claudio Monteverdis “L’Orfeo” with the lautten compagney of BERLIN

Favola in musica - Staged opera production

I am delighted to be returning to the role of Caronte, the ferryman across the River Styx. An iconic bass role composed by one of my favorite composers!

Orfeo: Tomas Kral - baritone

Euridice and La Musica: Frieda Jolande Barck - soprano

Ninfa and Echo: Johanna Ihrig - soprano

Pastore: Christian Pohlers - tenor

Pastore: Armin Horn - tenor

Pastore and Speranza: Matthias Dähling - Altus

Messaggiera and Proserpina: Coline Dutilleul - Alto

Caronte: Joel Frederiksen - Bass

Plutone and Apollo: Cornelius Uhle - Bass

Director: Thomas Guglielmetti

Stage: Theres Indermaur

Costumes: Ralph Zeger

Choreography: Pietro Cono Genova

Dramaturgy: Barbara Tacchini

Lighting: Henrike Elmiger

Assistant stage designer: Lukas Müllner

Costume assistance: Jana Meyer

Musical direction: Wolfgang Katschner

https://theaterwinterthur.ch/orfeo

Claudio Monteverdis “L’Orfeo” with the lautten compagney of BERLIN

Favola in musica - Staged opera production

I am delighted to be returning to the role of Caronte, the ferryman across the River Styx. An iconic bass role composed by one of my favorite composers!

Orfeo: Tomas Kral - baritone

Euridice and La Musica: Frieda Jolande Barck - soprano

Ninfa and Echo: Johanna Ihrig - soprano

Pastore: Christian Pohlers - tenor

Pastore: Armin Horn - tenor

Pastore and Speranza: Matthias Dähling - Altus

Messaggiera and Proserpina: Coline Dutilleul - Alto

Caronte: Joel Frederiksen - Bass

Plutone and Apollo: Cornelius Uhle - Bass

Director: Thomas Guglielmetti

Stage: Theres Indermaur

Costumes: Ralph Zeger

Choreography: Pietro Cono Genova

Dramaturgy: Barbara Tacchini

Lighting: Henrike Elmiger

Assistant stage designer: Lukas Müllner

Costume assistance: Jana Meyer

Musical direction: Wolfgang Katschner

https://theaterwinterthur.ch/orfeo

Claudio Monteverdis “L’Orfeo” with the lautten compagney of BERLIN

Favola in musica - Staged opera production

I am delighted to be returning to the role of Caronte, the ferryman across the River Styx. An iconic bass role composed by one of my favorite composers!

Orfeo: Tomas Kral - baritone

Euridice and La Musica: Frieda Jolande Barck - soprano

Ninfa and Echo: Johanna Ihrig - soprano

Pastore: Christian Pohlers - tenor

Pastore: Armin Horn - tenor

Pastore and Speranza: Matthias Dähling - Altus

Messaggiera and Proserpina: Coline Dutilleul - Alto

Caronte: Joel Frederiksen - Bass

Plutone and Apollo: Cornelius Uhle - Bass

Director: Thomas Guglielmetti

Stage: Theres Indermaur

Costumes: Ralph Zeger

Choreography: Pietro Cono Genova

Dramaturgy: Barbara Tacchini

Lighting: Henrike Elmiger

Assistant stage designer: Lukas Müllner

Costume assistance: Jana Meyer

Musical direction: Wolfgang Katschner

https://theaterwinterthur.ch/orfeo

Claudio Monteverdis “L’Orfeo” with the lautten compagney of BERLIN

Favola in musica - Staged opera production

I am delighted to be returning to the role of Caronte, the ferryman across the River Styx. An iconic bass role composed by one of my favorite composers!

Orfeo: Tomas Kral - baritone

Euridice and La Musica: Frieda Jolande Barck - soprano

Ninfa and Echo: Johanna Ihrig - soprano

Pastore: Christian Pohlers - tenor

Pastore: Armin Horn - tenor

Pastore and Speranza: Matthias Dähling - Altus

Messaggiera and Proserpina: Coline Dutilleul - Alto

Caronte: Joel Frederiksen - Bass

Plutone and Apollo: Cornelius Uhle - Bass

Director: Thomas Guglielmetti

Stage: Theres Indermaur

Costumes: Ralph Zeger

Choreography: Pietro Cono Genova

Dramaturgy: Barbara Tacchini

Lighting: Henrike Elmiger

Assistant stage designer: Lukas Müllner

Costume assistance: Jana Meyer

Musical direction: Wolfgang Katschner

https://theaterwinterthur.ch/orfeo

Claudio Monteverdis “L’Orfeo” with the lautten compagney of BERLIN

Favola in musica - Staged opera production

I am delighted to be returning to the role of Caronte, the ferryman across the River Styx. An iconic bass role composed by one of my favorite composers!

Orfeo: Tomas Kral - baritone

Euridice and La Musica: Frieda Jolande Barck - soprano

Ninfa and Echo: Johanna Ihrig - soprano

Pastore: Christian Pohlers - tenor

Pastore: Armin Horn - tenor

Pastore and Speranza: Matthias Dähling - Altus

Messaggiera and Proserpina: Coline Dutilleul - Alto

Caronte: Joel Frederiksen - Bass

Plutone and Apollo: Cornelius Uhle - Bass

Director: Thomas Guglielmetti

Stage: Theres Indermaur

Costumes: Ralph Zeger

Choreography: Pietro Cono Genova

Dramaturgy: Barbara Tacchini

Lighting: Henrike Elmiger

Assistant stage designer: Lukas Müllner

Costume assistance: Jana Meyer

Musical direction: Wolfgang Katschner

https://theaterwinterthur.ch/orfeo

Claudio Monteverdis “L’Orfeo” with the lautten compagney of BERLIN

PREMIER: Favola in musica - Staged opera production

I am delighted to be returning to the role of Caronte, the ferryman across the River Styx. An iconic bass role composed by one of my favorite composers!

Orfeo: Tomas Kral - baritone

Euridice and La Musica: Frieda Jolande Barck - soprano

Ninfa and Echo: Johanna Ihrig - soprano

Pastore: Christian Pohlers - tenor

Pastore: Armin Horn - tenor

Pastore and Speranza: Matthias Dähling - Altus

Messaggiera and Proserpina: Coline Dutilleul - Alto

Caronte: Joel Frederiksen - Bass

Plutone and Apollo: Cornelius Uhle - Bass

Director: Thomas Guglielmetti

Stage: Theres Indermaur

Costumes: Ralph Zeger

Choreography: Pietro Cono Genova

Dramaturgy: Barbara Tacchini

Lighting: Henrike Elmiger

Assistant stage designer: Lukas Müllner

Costume assistance: Jana Meyer

Musical direction: Wolfgang Katschner

https://theaterwinterthur.ch/orfeo

Claudio Monteverdis “L’Orfeo” with the lautten compagney BERLIN

Favola in musica - Concertante Performance - Berlin | ZEITSPRÜNGE

I am thrilled to revisit the role of Caronte, the ferryman across the river Styx! An iconic bass role composed by one of my favorite composers.

Orfeo                         Tomas Kral Baritone

Euridice                    Frieda Jolande Barck      Soprano

La Musica                 Frieda Jolande Barck      Soprano

Ninfa                         Johanna Ihrig                     Soprano

Pastore                     Christian Pohlers              Tenor

Pastore                     Armin Horn                         Tenor

Pastore                     Matthias Dähling                Alto

Messaggiera            Coline Dutilleul                  Alto

Speranza                  Matthias Dähling                Alto

Caronte                     Joel Frederiksen              Bass

Proserpina                Coline Dutilleul                   Alto

Plutone                      Cornelius Uhle                   Bass

Echo                          Johanna Ihrig                     Soprano

Apollo                        Cornelius Uhle                   Bass

• Direction                     Thomas Guglielmetti

  Stage                                  Theres Indermaur

  Costumes                          Ralph Zeger

  Choreography                 Pietro Cono Genova

  Dramaturgy                      Barbara Tacchini

  Light                                     Henrike Elmiger

  Stage assistant        Lukas Müllner

  Costume assistant        Jana Meyer

  Wolfgang Katschner Musical Director

Baroque for Bass - The three basses

“Countless formations have appeared on our stage. But we’ve never yet had a trio of basses! Joel Frederiksen, Thomas E. Bauer and Harry van der Kamp present a unique anthology of Baroque music from 17th century Germany. At the time, Italian music was enticing many composers to cross the Alps, including Heinrich Schütz, who went to Venice twice. He studied there with Giovanni Gabrieli and sampled the pioneering work of Claudio Monteverdi. Like Franz Tunder, Christoph Bernhard and Johann Caspar Kerll, Schütz combined the Italians’ dramatic panache with the spiritual depth and contrapuntal complexity of the German Baroque. Ensemble Phoenix Munich has chosen the most beautiful solos, duets and trios for this spirited programme: some are melodic and dancing, others are patient narratives, but all are magnificently expressive. Through the pages of the score, the bass reveals itself as so much more than a harmonic foundation: its deep, bronze register represents majesty, wisdom and power, in good times and bad.”

Program

H. Schütz: Himmel und Erde vergehen (SWV 300) | Herr, nun lässest du deinen Diener (SWV 352) | Von Aufgang der Sonnen (SWV 362) and other works | F. Tunder: O Jesu dulcissime, creator generis humani | Salve coelestis pater misericordiae | C. Bernhard: O welch eine Tiefe des Reichtums | J.C. Kerll: Dominus regnavit | Estote fortes in bello and other works.

Performers

Thomas E. Bauer, Harry van der Kamp, bass | Joel Frederiksen, bass, archlute & artistic leader | Félix Verry, Aleksandra Brzóskowska, violin | NN, theorbo | Domen Marincic, viol & violone | Michael Eberth, organ & harpsichord

French Renaissance chansons meet songs by Leonard Cohen

19. Wittenberger Renaissance Musikfestival September 2024

Legendary are the songs of Leonard Cohen like Suzanne, So Long, Marianne or Bird on the Wire, but that they can be combined so perfectly with French chansons of the Renaissance is simply fascinating. Joel Frederiksen's arrangements are more than a tribute to the great troubadour; they show how seemingly effortlessly these different styles can be brought together and combined. Renowned viola da gambists Hille Perl and Domen Marinčič, French singer and lutenist Emma-Lisa Roux, and Echo Prize winner Joel Frederiksen celebrate Cohen's music.

Cohen, a self-described chansonnier, grew up in French-speaking Montreal, Canada. He is appreciated both as a poet and for his sensitivity in combining words with music. This project brings Cohen together musically and poetically with previous generations of songwriters. Orlando di Lasso's famous 16th century chanson Susanne un jour meets Cohen's Suzanne. Josquin des Prez's Adieu mes amours or dances by Pierre Attaingnant (Paris, 1529) combine with Cohen's songs and the eras converge. With knowledge of Renaissance music practices, new diminutions on Cohen's music emerge, including new chordal and ornamental accompaniments for viola da gamba or lute based on late 16th and 17th century models.

Musicians:
Emma-Lisa Roux – soprano, lute | Hille Perl — viola da gamba | Domen Marinčič — viola da gamba | Joel Frederiksen — bass, lute, direction

Selected CD Reviews:

... a triumph in creative play and thoughtful synthesis ... an extremely rich listening experience. That Frederiksen sings while playing the lute – a confident nod to the troubadour tradition – is at the heart of why many of the performances sound so organic. I desperately wish Cohen could have heard just how beguilingly fabulous his songs sound with two violas da gamba and the gentle plucking of a lute.

Mark Seow, Gramophone, 10 March 2023

It’s intellectual catnip, but it’s also a simple pleasure to hear these arrangements performed.

Olivia Giovetti, Van Magazine, 2 February 2023

Touching Leonard Cohen homage in Neuruppin - ... Frederiksen's dark bass voice is made for Cohen's songs. ... Emma-Lisa Roux sings alongside Joel Frederiksen, sweet, clear as a bell and beguiling... At the end there are bravos and standing ovations. Märkische Allgemeine, July 9, 2022

CD available on SONY/Deutsche Harmonia Mundi

French Renaissance chansons meet songs by Leonard Cohen

Legendary are the songs of Leonard Cohen like Suzanne, So Long, Marianne or Bird on the Wire, but that they can be combined so perfectly with French chansons of the Renaissance is simply fascinating. Joel Frederiksen's arrangements are more than a tribute to the great troubadour; they show how seemingly effortlessly these different styles can be brought together and combined. Renowned viola da gambists Hille Perl and Domen Marinčič, French singer and lutenist Emma-Lisa Roux, and Echo Prize winner Joel Frederiksen celebrate Cohen's music.

Cohen, a self-described chansonnier, grew up in French-speaking Montreal, Canada. He is appreciated both as a poet and for his sensitivity in combining words with music. This project brings Cohen together musically and poetically with previous generations of songwriters. Orlando di Lasso's famous 16th century chanson Susanne un jour meets Cohen's Suzanne. Josquin des Prez's Adieu mes amours or dances by Pierre Attaingnant (Paris, 1529) combine with Cohen's songs and the eras converge. With knowledge of Renaissance music practices, new diminutions on Cohen's music emerge, including new chordal and ornamental accompaniments for viola da gamba or lute based on late 16th and 17th century models.

Musicians:
Emma-Lisa Roux – soprano, lute | Hille Perl — viola da gamba | Domen Marinčič — viola da gamba | Joel Frederiksen — bass, lute, direction

Selected CD Reviews:

... a triumph in creative play and thoughtful synthesis ... an extremely rich listening experience. That Frederiksen sings while playing the lute – a confident nod to the troubadour tradition – is at the heart of why many of the performances sound so organic. I desperately wish Cohen could have heard just how beguilingly fabulous his songs sound with two violas da gamba and the gentle plucking of a lute.

Mark Seow, Gramophone, 10 March 2023

It’s intellectual catnip, but it’s also a simple pleasure to hear these arrangements performed.

Olivia Giovetti, Van Magazine, 2 February 2023

Touching Leonard Cohen homage in Neuruppin - ... Frederiksen's dark bass voice is made for Cohen's songs. ... Emma-Lisa Roux sings alongside Joel Frederiksen, sweet, clear as a bell and beguiling... At the end there are bravos and standing ovations. Märkische Allgemeine, July 9, 2022

CD available on SONY/Deutsche Harmonia Mundi

A Spanish Renaissance Song of Solomon

Cappella Mariana / Vojtěch Semerád

Looking forward to singing with my friends from Prague again! I have sung with Vojtech many times and our recording “Madrigali spirituali” (Phillippe de Monte, CD recorded and released in 2023) sounds great!

Love never sounded as beautiful as in the Song of Solomon. From the beginning, the Bible text was an analogy of the bond between man and God. Later, the exuberantly sung bride was equated with Mary. The poetry and richness of images of the Song of Songs have intoxicated numerous composers; Cappella Mariana discovered text settings in the oeuvres of Morales, Victoria and Guerrero, among others, that mix contrapuntal precision with madrigalistic expressiveness.  

Programme:

• Cristóbal de Morales Ave maris stella c1500-1553

• Francisco Guerrero Trahe me post te 1528-1599

• Tomás Luis de Victoria Nigra sum sed formosa 1548-1611

• Francisco Guerrero Ego flos campi

• Tomás Luis de Victoria Vadam et circuibo civitatem

• Francisco Guerrero Surge, propera amica mea

• Sebastián de Vivanco Veni dilecte mi c1551-1622

• Rodrigo de Ceballos Hortus conclusus c1525/30-1581

• Tomás Luis de Victoria Salve Regina a 8
  Programme subject to change

Musicians:

• Hana Blažíková, Lina Marcela López, Michaela Riener soprano

• Tomáš Lajtkep, Ondřej Holub tenor

• Martin Schicketanz baritone

• Joel Frederiksen bass

• Vojtěch Semerád artistic direction, tenor

AUXantiqua & I Fedeli – A8

German Polychoral Polyphony for Singers and Wind Instruments

The main road between Karlsruhe, Stuttgart, Ulm, Augsburg and Munich was once the musical silk road north of the Alps. During Laus Polyphoniae the ‘A8’ is the starting point for a clever combo of High Renaissance eight-part compositions from Southern Germany. Leading the parade are Stefan Steinemann, Kapellmeister of Augsburg Cathedral, the vocal ensemble AUXantiqua and the instrumentalists of I Fedeli. The generous polyphony – impressive counterpoint that deserves a place of honour among the greats of the 16th century – is the work of Ludwig Daser, Gregor Aichinger, Hans Leo Hassler and Orlandus Lassus.

Program

Motets and instrumental pieces by L. Daser, B. Hoyoul, L. Lechner, G. Aichinger, HL. Hassler, C. Erbach, A. Gumpelzhaimer, O. Lassus & B. Forlasca

Performers

AUXantiqua & I Fedeli | Stefan Steinemann, artistic leader