To say that the Baltimore Consort maintains an eventful, sometimes hectic schedule is an understatement. Never have six people traveled so extensively to perform together — as they will be doing Sunday in the Mansion at Strathmore. They come from all parts of the country and often at various times of the day. Mary Anne Ballard is one of the founding members of this critically acclaimed early-music ensemble. Sitting in a busy hotel lobby in Pittsburgh having just performed the Baltimore Consort Christmas program the night before, she prepares for the next show in Florida.
How and, more importantly, when does the group actually gather to rehearse before a concert?
“People always ask us that question,” Ballard said. “The first 10 or 12 years we were together, we lived close enough to Baltimore to rehearse once a week, and over that period of time we built up a very large repertoire. We started recording in 1990 every [piece] we built up. Now we pitch the programs.”
| IF YOU GO |
| ‘Wassail, Wassail!’ |
| » Where: The Mansion at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda |
| » When: 3 and 7:30 p.m. Sunday |
| » Info: $28 (sold out at press time, call for availability); 301-581-5100; strathmore.org |
When putting together a completely new program, the group gathers at what they call “rehearsal camp” for a concentrated period of ensemble playing.
In this season’s touring Christmas program, “Wassail, Wassail!” they will play music they have never recorded, in a configuration they have never done before.
In addition to Ballard, on viols and the rebec (a tiny, pear-shaped fiddle that is bowed), The Baltimore Consort includes Mark Cudek, who plays cittern, viol and the crumhorn (think of an umbrella handle), and Larry Lipkis, who plays, among other Renaissance period instruments, the gemshorn (the horn of a goat). Ronn McFarlane plays the lute, and Mindy Rosenfeld the wooden flutes and fifes. Danielle Svonevec’s instrument is her beautiful soprano voice.
“The group offers a lively, eclectic mix of early music on instruments that tickle the fancy, intrigue the eye and please the ear,” the Mobile Press-Register in Alabama wrote in a review.
Ballard said many of the pieces they will perform — one is so old, the date is unknown — are quite recognizable, even though they are played in several different configurations of melody, rhythm and texture on the instruments of Shakespeare’s time. “Green Sleeves to a Ground,” “The Lord of the Dance” (tune of “Simple Gifts” and “Here We Come A-Wassailing” are delightful examples.
“Our arrangements are unique and turn what could be very simple into an art form,” she said.
