The Italian Cultural Center

 

Consortium Carissimi & The Italian Cultural Center

We are honored and pleased to be invited to perform during Opening Night of the 4th Annual Italian Film Festival sponsored by the Italian Cultural Center.  This year’s film festival is being held March 30th through April 1st, at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design and brings prominent contemporary Italian feature films to the Twin Cities.

Opening Night:  Friday, March 30th - An Evening with Caravaggio
6:00 PM – Italian food and wine available for purchase
7:00 PM – Baroque music from Consortium Carissimi
7:40 PM – An introduction to the art and times of Caravaggio by Prof. Steven Ostrow, University of Minnesota
8:00 PM – The film “Caravaggio.”

Consortium Carissimi will perform sacred and secular music reflecting both the time of Caravaggio and the artwork he created such as La Maddalena.  These pieces will be by both female and male composers of the Early Italian Baroque, including Isabella Leonarda, Francesca Caccini, Chiara Margarita Cozzolani, Marco da Gagliano, and Domenico Mazzocchi.

Please join us on Friday, March 30th for a spectacular journey through the music, landscapes, and stories of Italy and its people.  And if you want, baroque costumes are encouraged!

For more information and tickets, click on Italian Culture Center.

Saint Paul Pioneer Press Reviews Consortium Carissimi

Rob Hubbard of the Saint Paul Pioneer Press was at Consortium Carissimi’s opening concert last evening, Friday, February 24, 2012. This is this morning’s review of our Lenten Oratories concert:

Carissimi singers bring a little hedonism to Lenten lessons

By Rob Hubbard
Special to the Pioneer Press
Posted:  02/24/2012 11:15 PM

The Christian season of Lent signifies giving up things, like abstaining from something you enjoy or keeping decorations more minimal and muted. So perhaps enhancing your Lenten experience would be contradictory to its purpose.

But if you want an ear-pleasing history lesson about the sound of 17th century Lenten services, Twin Cities early music group Consortium Carissimi offers a great opportunity this weekend.

Oratories and motets by Italian composers Bonifazio Graziani and Giacomo Carissimi provide the basis for a program that eschews solemnity in favor of engagingly delivered biblical tales. This group’s rich voices and strong instrumental support make them enjoyable enough to almost be a source of guilt.

Graziani’s version of the Adam and Eve story might inspire eye rolls with its account of the birth of patriarchy, but it was splendidly sung Friday night at Minneapolis’ Our Lady of Lourdes Church, particularly by serpent soprano Lisa Habeck and the dusky-voiced  Eve of Marita Link.

Though presented in oratorio fashion, the characterizations were nevertheless admirably fleshed out, almost operatic in the amount of passion poured into each phrase. The parable of the prodigal son was a quartet supported chiefly by the subdued sound of viola da gamba and theorbo (ancestors of the cello and guitar, respectively), but it nevertheless felt quite theatrical, especially when soprano Heather Cogswell conveyed the youthful abandon and resigned contrition of the title character.

Yet, the concert’s most powerful moments came when the choir kicked in for the composers’ most complex and luxuriant lines, interweaving their voices in thick harmonies. It was the kind of Lenten experience that could leave you feeling as if you’re gaining so much more than you’re giving up.

Who: Consortium Carissimi

What: “Lenten Motets and Oratories” by Giacomo Carissimi and Bonifazio Graziani

When and where: 7:30 p.m. today, Nativity of Our Lord Catholic Church, 1900 Wellesley Ave., St. Paul; 2 p.m. Sunday, Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church, 1 Lourdes Place, Minneapolis

Tickets: $15-$5, available at 612-636-7518 or consortiumcarissimi.org

Capsule: Lent isn’t supposed to have pleasures this rich.

Harpsichord

The Future of Early Music

Here is a fun video clip from a young boy who created a Harpsichord made out of Legos – Enjoy!

 

Lenten Oratories Added Performance!

Consortium Carissimi has added a THIRD performance to our next concert!!  Check out our concerts/tickets page for all the information.  Hope to see you there!

St. Louis Artists’ Reception

Like any family, we celebrate a job well done!

St. Louis in Rome

September 16th & 18th, 2011 at St. Mary’s Chapel

To some, it came as no surprise to hear such splendid music from Consortium Carissimi this past weekend. However, many of our audience members were new to Consortium…and they are already asking when the next concert is! There has been a lovely buzz ever since!

Here are just a few photos from the Sunday, September 18th concert. Read more

Season Kick-Off Picnic

On August 27th, Consortium Carissimi kicked off their 2011-2012 season with an informal picnic.  The weather was perfect, the food was delicious, and the conversation engaging.   Everyone had a great time….even though the host burned some (or was it most) of the brats!  Here are some pictures…. Read more

Fifth Anniversary Season Announcement

We are excited to announce our Fifth Anniversary Season for 2011-2012.

Upcoming programs will include music of the late renaissance and early baroque periods by noted composers Carissimi, Graziani, Victoria, and more.

Please check back with us for concert dates and information, or sign up for our new mailing list!

Thank you for your continued support of Consortium Carissimi.