Rolando Villazón has joins forces with period instrument ensemble L’Arpeggiata and its founder-director Christina Pluhar to present an album inspired by the myth of Orpheus. The recording is based on a conceptual program devised by Pluhar which the artists have also performed live to great acclaim. Villazón sings excerpts from Monteverdi’s Orfeo and operas on the same subject by Gluck, …

A Chinese-German-Finnish trio comprising sheng virtuoso Wu Wei, violist Martin Stegner, and double bass player Janne Saksala perform arrangements of works by Claudio Monteverdi, J. S. Bach, and Antonio Vivaldi with an additional non-Baroque bonus: “Buremarsj frå Beiarn,” a bridal march from Norwegian folk tradition. The sheng, whose history goes back three thousand years, is a free reed polyphonic instrument, …

This new album featuring two rising star countertenors Carlo Vistoli and Hugh Cutting. Accompanied by Les Arts Florissants, conducted by William Christie, the program centers Baroque arias and duets for two altos by composers such as Monteverdi, Caldara, Bononcini, and Vivaldi. The album’s release marks a significant milestone in Cutting’s career, following his recognition as the first countertenor to win …

Their names were Laura, Livia, and Anna. Together, they were known in the late 1500s as the Tre Donne di Ferrara – the three ladies of Ferrara. Their ensemble was praised by contemporary poets and won highest renown throughout Italy and Germany. However, women were not supposed to become famous for their professional achievements. And so, one of them was …

The world music-leaning period instrument band L’Arpeggiata, led by theorbo player Christina Pluhar, celebrates nature in a mostly Baroque program (Monteverdi, Bononcini, Biber and Handel) coupled with traditional songs and ballads including eden ahbez’s “Nature Boy.” In Terra Mater (meaning Mother Nature), Pluhar writes, “You will hear the chirping of the nightingales, sweet birds, cuckoos, frogs and chicken, the whispers of the winds, …