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, …

An interview with the pioneering conductor in advance of his Chicago debut.

Founder and artistic director of the pioneering Les Arts Florissants, American conductor William Christie is an icon of historically informed performance practice, a flamboyantly skilled harpsichordist, and one the critical figures in reviving 17th and 18th century French repertoire. This album gathers a host of young artists who are dear to him (gambist Myriam Rignol, harpsichordist Justin Taylor, lutenist Thomas …

A preview of the upcoming performance by Apollo’s Fire.

Trevor Pinnock, a pioneer in the historically informed performance practice, has convened a bespoke ensemble, dubbed Pinnock’s Players, to partner with star trumpeter Alison Balsom on her new album of Baroque concertos. All six of the concertos recorded here – by Handel, Vivaldi, Telemann, Albinoni and Marcello – are transcriptions of virtuoso works for violin or oboe, performed by Balsom …

Music of the Baroque presents the sublime oratorio Jephtha, Handel’s final masterpiece, recorded live conducted by Dame Jane Glover. Tenor David Portillo, a Ryan Opera Center alum, leads the cast that includes sopranos Lauren Snouffer and Katelyn Lee, mezzo-soprano Clara Osowski, countertenor Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen, and bass-baritone Neal Davies. The performance from September 2022 marked Jane Glover’s 20th season leading …