TEN OF THE BEST | September
Highlights from Continuo Connect’s listings in September
September launches the new season with outstanding performers, imaginative programming and repertoire stretching from the Middle Ages to Schumann and Steve Reich. Here’s our pick of concerts around the UK in the month ahead.
View over 400 upcoming Early Music concerts in the UK on Continuo Connect by visiting our What's On page.
The Gesualdo Six & Colin Currie Group | Late-Night Prom
2 September | Royal Albert Hall, London
The Gesualdo Six journeys through Hildegard, Pérotin, Machaut and Josquin before joining Colin Currie’s percussionists for Steve Reich’s ecstatic Tehillim. An inspired meeting of ancient vocal intricacy and contemporary rhythmic energy.
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Sounds Historical | What a Wonderful World
3–6 September | Marsden, Lancaster, Bolton Priory and Barnard Castle
A Continuo Foundation-supported tour exploring the things that inspired wonder in early-modern Europe – from astronomy, mythology and magic to extraordinary weather and a lost whale. Music by Monteverdi, Charpentier, Purcell, Bach and others is performed on lutes, viols, recorders and flutes.
Freiburg Baroque Orchestra | Rattle Conducts Schumann
7 September, Royal Albert Hall, London
Simon Rattle conducts the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra in its return to the BBC Proms, bringing period-instrument colours to Schumann with Isabelle Faust as soloist in his strange and troubled Violin Concerto. The Genoveva Overture and Second Symphony complete an unmissable meeting of performers and repertoire.
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Arcangelo | Bach’s Mass in B minor
10 September, Royal Albert Hall, London
Jonathan Cohen and Arcangelo tackle JS Bach’s monumental Mass with an exceptional solo team: Jeanine De Bique, Eva Zaïcik, Hugh Cutting, Nick Pritchard and Florian Störtz. A familiar masterpiece, but an unusually compelling line-up.
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Idrîsî Ensemble | Singer & Scribe
12 September, St Oswald’s Church, Castle Bolton
Idrîsî Ensemble explores the diverse musical traditions of the medieval Mediterranean, bringing written and orally transmitted repertories into conversation. Part of Medieval Music in the Dales, the wonderfully atmospheric setting of Castle Bolton makes this a particularly enticing festival encounter.
il Pomo d’Oro | Monteverdi’s Vespri di San Giovanni Battista
13 September, Wigmore Hall, London
Not the familiar 1610 Vespers, but a programme drawn from Monteverdi’s late Selva morale e spirituale, encapsulating his years at St Mark’s in Venice. It also launches the Wigmore Hall residency of one of Europe’s most electrifying Baroque ensembles.
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Concerto Copenhagen | Haydn Project: Vienna 1750
14 September, Dunbar Parish Church, Dunbar
Concerto Copenhagen has won many friends with vivid performances of 17th-century music. The Danish Baroque ensemble returns to the Lammermuir Festival with the ever-inventive, always-surprising genius Joseph Haydn in focus, in a special three-concert residency that places his brilliant symphonic writing in the context of music by his contemporaries.
The Binchois Consort | Jacob Obrecht’s Scaramella
15 September, St Mary’s Church, Whitekirk
The month’s outstanding rarity: Fabrice Fitch’s reconstruction of Obrecht’s Missa Scaramella, based on a popular song about an itinerant soldier. Andrew Kirkman and The Binchois Consort set it alongside music by Brumel, Josquin, Agricola and Compère.
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I Fagiolini | Monteverdi’s Vespers of 1610
18 September, Kings Place, London
I Fagiolini celebrates its 40th anniversary with Monteverdi’s masterpiece, launching a new recording that promises raw Italian energy and startling intimacy. The outstanding vocal team is joined by the English Cornett and Sackbut Ensemble.
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Apollo's Cabinet | Apollo’s Jukebox
12 September, London; 24 September, Malling Abbey, Kent
The audience chooses the programme from a menu spanning Bach, Handel and Purcell, traditional dances, a musical dice game and even a recorder battle. Part concert, part game and delightfully unpredictable, Apollo's Cabinet is sure to delight in this Continuo Foundation-supported project.
Want to stay up-to-date with the latest from the UK Early Music sector? Sign up for our fortnightly newsletter to get the latest concert recommendations, festival updates, artist profiles and more delivered straight to your inbox. Cover photo (Freiburg Baroque Orchestra) by Gulliver Theis.
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