ENSEMBLE WITIZA AT CHAPELLE SAINT-GERMAIN - CONCERT REVIEW

Same Players/Different Venue

We first learned of the concert series at the Chapelle Saint-Germain last summer. But try as we might, we failed to manage to attend even one. The single occasion that we found the time to take the trip up to our north and west, we got hopelessly lost. By the time that we found the little 11th Century chapel tucked among the vines a couple of miles off the main road between Cesseras and Siran, the doors had closed. Again this year, none of the first four dates seemed to work - a wedding in England, friends arriving from Scotland, always an excuse. Until this fifth and last concert of the season.

We should have made the time much sooner.

As stated, the small, old chapel is way back among the vines with parking in a beaten-down glade across the barely-paved track. There's not much to the chapel - a dirt floor, an altar area at one end raised barely an inch or two above the dirt, a few slit windows without glass. Perhaps 100 temporary seats. Not much at all. But like so many of these old spaces, the chapel seemed designed for music. And Ensemble Witiza delivered. Renaissance music, sacred and secular, by DuFay, Machaut and others. Mostly a cappella.  Occasionally an oud or a rebec or a recorder were employed. But three strong voices were all that was required for a fine listening experience - tenor Leo Richomme, baritone Cedric Crespin, and contralto Beatrice Pary, assured and well matched.

Price of admission: 12 euros. We didn't stay for the complementary wine tasting.

Just wonderful.

The Baltimore Consort - 12/14/2011

I grew up an acid rocker.  I’m not strictly a Dead Head (I’ve only seen them three or four times.) but I still listen to Garcia and Jimi Hendrix and Grace Slick and Cream and Robin Trower with great enjoyment. My wife is the opposite. Her musical taste begins with Bach and works backward. Put another way, she considers any music composed after Bach to be jazz. Her music plays in our house all the time – Baroque, Renaissance, Early Music of all stripes. Submit or die. 

I admit it. I’ve submitted.

I’ve come to appreciate the civility and the architecture of the music. I not only listen. I enjoy.

The Baltimore Consort is a quintet of top flight Early Music multi-instrumentalists – two from the East Coast, two from the West and one Mid-Westerner – who get together to tour and record as their schedules allow. Founding member Larry Lipkis teaches at Moravian College in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and so we get to see the Consort every year during their traditional Christmas tour. 

This year at Trinity Episcopal Church in downtown Bethlehem, their lineup included both their guest soprano and a counter tenor, each of whom having accompanied them in Bethlehem in the past, both of whom appear on their Dorian recordings. The playlist included French Noels, German carols, Greensleeves and more. There were instrumentals, solo vocals and vocal duets. There were quiet airs and rowdy dances.

The ensemble performed with precision and joy. The Consort clearly enjoys playing the music and playing with each other. They display and discuss their instruments. They joke and they kid. During the concert, they hand the instruments back and forth as a medley calls for different players to take the lead. It’s entrancing. It’s a happening. It’s an education.

It’s a joy.

I’m not going to go into the biographies and discographies of each player – the lutist alone has released a couple of dozen CDs. Go to http://www.baltcons.com/ and you’ll learn all that you need to know. Check out their concert schedule. If the Baltimore Consort is playing near you, you really have to check them out.

This is your Uncle Ira. Check them out.

THE BALTIMORE CONSORT CHRISTMAS PROGRAM 12/20/10

I'm a child of rock and roll. The Southern Woman That I Married? Not so much. She's fond of saying, "I start with Bach and work my way back." Given her druthers, it would be all Renaissance, all the time. And I've come to appreciate the delicate civility of the music.

So we're lucky to live in the Lehigh Valley, home of Larry Lipkis, one of the founding members of The Baltimore Consort. I've listened to a lot of Early Music cds, I've got a reasonably discerning ear, and I tell you that none do it better than The Consort.

We look forward to their Christmas concert every year. This year, we began to worry. We didn't see it advertised. And when we went to The Consort's website, it came up as unavailable. So I emailed Larry. "Don't worry," he said. "Trinity Church...Monday the 20th...I look forward to seeing you there."

Well, I was there. And it was wonderful. Period tunes, period instruments, a lovely soprano, played with skill and energy and humor. If you get the chance, if they come to your town, don't miss them. If they're not comeing to your town any time soon, buy a cd. Wonderful stuff.