Wednesdays at 10:00 pm
A fresh feast of early music every week.
Join host Candice Agree for WFMT’s exciting weekly program of early music. Baroque&Before explores works written before 1750, featuring live concert recordings from some of the world’s most prestigious early music festivals, as well as commercially released recordings from WFMT’s vast library. From Russia to the Americas, from Northern Europe to the Mediterranean and Middle East, Candice presents internationally known artists on the early music scene, crafting a delightful mix of musicianship, music, and history.
Profile: Harpsichordist Kenneth Cooper
August 5, 2026, 10:00 pm
Honoring the late keyboardist Kenneth Cooper, best known for his improvisational skills, his spontaneity, and his rediscovery of 18th-century works, as well as performances of modern works written for the harpsichord.
Profile: Mezzo-soprano Teresa Berganza
August 12, 2026, 10:00 pm
We celebrate the artistic legacy of Spanish mezzo-soprano Teresa Berganza, who died May 13, 2022 at the age of 89.
In the Patron’s Shadow: Christophe Rousset in Works by Couperin
March 4, 2026
François Couperin knew all too well that the artist, immersed in the uncertainties of his world, must depend on the protection of a patron who, in return, enhances his social image as a promoter of the arts. This principle defined the modus vivendi of musicians in the Early Modern Period, and Couperin was no exception. Harpsichordist Christophe Rousset brings us ...
Bach: Mass in b minor
February 18, 2026
Nicholas Kraemer leads the Czech Philharmonic, Collegium Vocale 1704, and vocal soloists in one of the supreme works of the Baroque era; one that has fascinated musicians and listeners for more than 250 years: Johann Sebastian Bach’s monumental Mass in b minor. Tonight’s program was recorded live in concert January 24, 2025, in Dvořák Hall, Rudolfinum, Prague. Thanks to WFMT’s ...
Ars Subtilior: Ballades, Rondeaux & Virelais
February 11, 2026
Love is complicated, but not as complicated as the music that celebrates it.
Handel in Rome
January 28, 2026
In July 1707, three works by Handel were performed in the Church of Santa Maria in Montesanto in Rome: Nisi Dominus and Dixit Dominus on 16 July, and Salve Regina on 19 July. The influential Colonna family sponsored the concerts. These three works are among Handel’s outstanding sacred music output while in Italy, years that proved particularly productive. In fact, ...
Nigel Rogers: An Appreciation
January 21, 2026
In the words of harpsichordist Mahan Esfahani, “There are few who can lay claim to have rediscovered an entire art, but Nigel Rogers earned the right to be one of those people who’ve changed musical performance forever. Before him, the true sound of Monteverdi and Cavalli and Cesti and Caccini was impossible to know, and after him, it will never ...
Sound Out of Silence: The Baroque Clavichord
January 14, 2026
Early keyboardist Terence Charlston presents the first recording on clavichord of the complete fantasias and canzonas from Johann Jacob Froberger's Libro Secondo, written in 1649.
New Year’s Eve
December 31, 2025
Baroque&Before is celebrating New Year’s Eve! Join us as we enjoy WFMT’s special New Year’s Eve programming in this time slot. We’ll be back next Wednesday night, January 7 at 10. Have a happy and healthy New Year, and join us in 2026!
Bach’s Christmas Oratorio with Jordi Savall
December 24, 2025
Baroque&Before’s special extended Christmas edition presents Johann Sebastian Bach‘s Christmas Oratorio, written for the Christmas season of 1734-1735.
Italian Christmas Concertos
December 17, 2025
The Christmas season was an extremely busy time for church composers in the eighteenth century: congregations expected newly written music every year. A tradition emerged in the early seventeenth century of composing music with the aim of recreating the pastoral atmosphere of the first Christmas Eve. On this special Advent edition of Baroque&Before, Concerto Copenhagen starts off our program with ...
Handel’s “Judas Maccabaeus”
December 10, 2025
Handel recast the story of Judas Maccabeus as a celebratory ode to King George II, with music of unprecedented refinement, gripping suspense, and drama.
La Néréide: Il concerto secreto
November 26, 2025
Ensemble La Néréide takes us back to 16th century Italy and the ducal court of Alfonso Il d’Este for works by d’Este’s own court organist Luzzasco Luzzaschi, plus gems by Caccini, Monteverdi, Rossi, and others. La Néréide’s three sopranos bring this exceptional collection of music for equal voices to its full glory. Tonight’s program was recorded live in concert August ...
The Days & Seasons of Renaissance Mantua
November 19, 2025
Voces Suaves and Basel’s Capricornus Consort join forces for a program of madrigals and instrumental works by Monteverdi, Giaches De Wert, and their contemporaries.
Bach with the Swedish Radio Choir
November 12, 2025
Fredrik Malmberg leads the Swedish Radio Choir and Capella Suecia in one of Bach's short masses, BWV 236 in G Major. The beloved cantata "Sleepers Awake" opens the concert.
Leipzig 1722-1723
November 5, 2025
Telemann received an irresistible offer from Hamburg, Christoph Graupner's dispute was settled in Darmstadt, and Fasch had already withdrawn from the application... the city council was forced to settle for Johann Sebastian Bach.
Countertenor Valer Sabadus: Il gusto italiano
October 29, 2025
Italy, the land of longing for Germans for centuries, Handel among them. Early music conductor Andrea Marcon leads the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra in an exploration of “the Italian taste.” They’re joined by countertenor Valer Sabadus for arias by Handel and Vivaldi. Recorded live in concert November 15, 2024, in Broadcasting Hall in the Dornbusch in Frankfurt, Germany.
Sacred Bridges: Psalms of David
October 1, 2025
Creating a musical exploration of the complex intertwinings – the sacred bridges – between Judaism, Islam, and Christianity.
Les chemins hébraïques du baroque
September 24, 2025
Passionate about Hebraic spiritual traditions, Benedetto Marcello was inspired by the extraordinary faith he encountered in the synagogues of early 18th-century Venice. Selections from Marcello’s settings of poetic paraphrases of the Psalms of David with Hebraic intonations are presented by Ensemble XVIII-21 Le Baroque Nomade, founded in 1995 by Jean-Christope Frisch as XVIII-21 Musique de Lumières. A world premiere, recorded ...
The World of Ramon Llull
September 17, 2025
Ramon Llull (1232-1316) was one of the most prominent writers and poets of medieval Catalonia, living at a time marked by the coexistence, not always peacefully, of the three Abrahamic religious cultures of his time. Jordi Savall leads La Capella Reial de Catalunya, Hespèrion XXI, and special guest artists in Ramon Llull: Times of Conquest, Dialogue, and Exhortation; a program ...
Profile: Jaap Schröder
September 3, 2025
We celebrate violinist Jaap Schröder, one of the first pioneers to present performances of baroque, and later, classical works, on period instruments.
Tempus mirabilium: Hopes & Dreams
August 27, 2025
Peace, love, hope, salvation. Soprano Hana Blažíková joins Capella de la Torre for a program of early seventeenth-century Germany and Italy celebrating an age of miracles. Recorded live in concert July 24, 2024 in the Church of St Simon and St Jude as part of Prague’s Summer Festivities of Early Music. Thanks to WFMT’s association with the European Broadcasting Union, ...
