For a collaboration to be called “historic,” it should be more than just a first time joint effort. When three of Baltimore’s most esteemed musical bodies gather to present the collective voice of another place in time, the event is indeed worthy of the title “Courtly Splendor.”
This Sunday, The Handel Choir of Baltimore, the Peabody Early Music Department and the famed Pro Music Rara collaborate to recreate the most magnificent pieces ever written to mark royal occasions of centuries past.
“We’re working with a cast of thousands,” Peabody Early Music Department Director Mark Cudek said. “It?s never been done before [and] I think it will be a smashing success.”
The concert opens with Cudek leading the Peabody Renaissance Ensemble in Music from the Court of Ferdinand and Isabella. These works are part of the Cancionero de Palacio (Palace Songbook) by Juan Del Encina, the most important composer of Spanish secular music of his era.
Next, Pro Musica Rara presents Bach?s Brandenburg Concerto No. 2. This all-professional, chamber orchestra performs on period instruments in the Baroque tradition.
“Pro Musica Rara looks forward to joining forces with its musical friends in the spirit of an 18th century ?academy,? ” artistic director Allen Whear said.
The Handel Choir of Baltimore, under the leadership of conductor Melinda O?Neal rounds out the concert repertoire with Handel?s Ode for the Birthday of Queen Anne. Pro Musica Rara will join the choir, members of the Handel Period Instrument Orchestra, and the Baltimore Baroque Band.
O?Neal notes that it has been exciting to work with all of the other professional players, adding “?we’ve got a mix of ideas, procedures, styles, and musical inventiveness.”
Courtly Splendor
» Sunday
» 3:15 p.m. lecture with Mark Cudek; 4:00 p.m. concert
» Peabody Institute, Miriam A. Friedberg Concert Hall
17 E. Mount Vernon Place, Baltimore
» $20, $5 for students
» 410-659-8100 ext. 2
