Blog

Luther at the Diet of Worms, by Anton von Werner, 1877

What is the Reformation and Why is it so Important to Sacred Music?

October 17, 2017

from The Concise Guide to Western Music, Barbara Russano Hanning (Professor of Music, The City College and Graduate Center, CUNY) The Reformation began as a theological dispute that was set…

The Vespers

April 4, 2017

In 1610 Monteverdi published one of his finest works, the Vespers, comprising a Mass, 2 Magnificats, 11 “motets,” and an orchestral sonata. In it he combines solos, ensembles, choral writing…

New Carissimi Eight Motets CD!

February 15, 2017

Our latest CD! Giacomo Carissimi was one of the most admired of seventeenth-century Italian composers. The maestro from Marino, near Rome, acquired a Europe-wide fame at an early age and…

Consortium Carissimi at The Twin Cities Music Festival

August 8, 2016

Join us on Sunday, August 14th 2016 for a Concert presentation of the Naxos releases of Music of Bonifazio Graziani (1604-1664.) We also would like to welcome back our guest conductor…

REVIEW: Consortium Carissimi breathes life into 1672 opera

June 4, 2016

REVIEW: Bernardo Pasquini’s “Il Tirinto” is proven worthy of resurrection. By TERRY BLAIN Special to the Star Tribune From an aristocratic palace in the Castelli Romani, Italy, to the blasted concrete…

Commedia dell’arte and Early Opera

May 16, 2016

by Jon Cranny – stage director for Il Tirinto As with much of western culture, it started with the Greeks – comic drama, commedia.  But alas only fragments of the…

The History of The Lute

February 14, 2016

You’ve been to early music concerts and noticed a rounded back instrument being strummed or plucked, reminiscent of William Shakespeare and harking back to the sounds of John Dowland – the lute.  But do you know much about this instrument?

Recently I was doing a little research and came across this essay written by Jonathan Santa Maria Bouquet, an instrument builder and based out of Edinburgh University.  Read on…

Bernardo Pasquini – Italian Composer & Renowned Virtuoso Keyboard Player

February 9, 2016

Italian composer, Bernardo Pasquini was one of the foremost keyboard impresarios of his time. Born in Tuscany, he served in Rome from the 1660s as a highly connected organist, teacher,…

Press Release: Consortium Carissimi Will Present Charpentier’s Te Deum and Vivaldi’s Gloria

December 16, 2015

ST PAUL, MN– As its second offering of season nine, Consortium Carissimi will present Marc-Antoine Charpentier’s Te Deum as well as the well-known Gloria of Antonio Vivaldi on Friday, January 1st, 2016 at 7:30…

Performance of World-Premiere Recordings

February 5, 2015

Consortium Carissimi Will Present World-Premiere Recordings of Eight Motets of Giacomo Carissimi (1604-1675) on April 24 and 26 As its final offering of the season, Consortium Carissimi will present eight…