A smorgasbord of seasonal English music in Washington DC

By Cristina Burack, 24 December 2018

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“such energetic songs such as Tappster, dryngker made me want to raise an ale mug in toast”

Reviewed at Folger Shakespeare Library: Folger Theatre, Washington on 22 December 2018

Anonymous, Angelus ad virginem

Anonymous, Nowel syng we bothe al and som

Anonymous, There is no rose of such virtue

Henry VIII King of England, Green groweth the holly

Byrd, O Magnum Mysterium

Byrd, From virgin's womb

Byrd, Rejoice, rejoice

Byrd, Laetentur coeli

Vaughan Williams, Fantasia on Christmas Carols

Traditional, While shepherds watched their flocks by night

Anonymous, Greensleeves

Traditional, Hark! The Herald Angels Sing

Folger Consort

Mary Springfels, Viola da Gamba

Webb Wiggins, Harpsichord

William Sharp, Baritone

Oliver Mercer, Tenor

P. Lucy McVeigh, Soprano

The Wonder of Will: Shakespeare through the prism in New York

Sacha Evans, 24th January

A ravishing performance, with Shakespeare’s words delivered primarily through the prism of living composers.

****1

Tunes for the Moon at Vermont's Yellow Barn

Kurt Gottschalk, 20th July

On the 50th anniversary of the first lunar landing, the musicians of Yellow Barn played a wide-ranging program of works inspired by the night sky.

****1

In rural New England, music from three centuries played with aplomb

Kurt Gottschalk, 19th July

Smalltown Vermont is not to be second-guessed in Yellow Barn's top-rate program of Bach, Fauré, Hans Werner Henze and Kalevi Aho.

****1

Opera Lafayette revives an 18th-century comic gem

Zerbinetta, 26th January

Opera Lafayette has uncovered a fascinating work in their revival of Pierre-Alexandre Monsigny’s 1762 comic opera Le roi et le fermier (The King and the Farmer). The Washington, D.C.

****1

Baroque Blues: Apollo's Fire in café style

Frank Kuznik, 13th February

Apollo's Fire digs deep into the roots of early music and finds some surprisingly contemporary sounds.

****1

Bampton Classical Opera revives little-known operas by Philidor and Grétry

Nahoko Gotoh, 18th September

Bampton Classical Opera is a company dedicated to performing rarely-performed 18th-century operas, and every summer they stage a new production with a cast of young and upcoming singers at their base in Bampton in Oxfordshire. This year’s production was a double-bill of French opéras comiques by Philidor and Grétry, which they brought to London’s St John’s Smith Square last week.

****1

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Cristina Burack

Cristina Burack studied piano and flute for many years, before earning her BM in Voice and Opera performance at Northwestern University, with a strong focus on German Lieder, as well as a BA in History. After continuing her vocal studies in Vienna, she turned her professional focus to communications. She is a freelance journalist who particularly enjoys covering the intersection of music, history and politics.

Folger Consort dishes up a smorgasbord of seasonal English music