baltimoresun.com

« Music we've been missing (Part 3): the Latin connection | Main | Baltimore Symphony's CD of Bernstein's 'Mass' to be released on composer's birthday »

July 28, 2009

Pro Musica Rara's 35th season will open with salute to Edgar Allan Poe

Pro Musica Rara, like any number of other cultural organizations, has had its share of touch and go years, but this early music ensemble has manged to hang on, even gaining impressive artistic ground over the past several years. The 2009-2010 season marks the Baltimore group's 35th, a milestone that will be celebrated with imaginative programming and appealing artists at Towson University's Center for the Arts.

The most unusual presentation will open the season on Oct. 11 -- a celebration of the Edgar Allan Poe bicentennial. This concert combines a reading of his chilling tale "The Cask of Amontillado" with some appropriately spooky music, including Tartini's Devil's Trill Sonata and Marais' Tableau de l'operation de la Talle (a musical depiction of the composer undergoing an un-anesthetized gall bladder operation in the 1700s -- talk about scary). Featured performers: violinist Cynthia Roberts, cellist and Pro Music artistic director Allen Whear, harpsichordist Dongsok Shin, narrator Jonathan Palevsky.

French baroque will be the focus in November in a concert showcasing ...

Kenneth Slowik on viola da gamba.

The annual SuperBach Sunday in January will welcome the excellent Philadelphia-based ensemble Tempesta di Mare in a collaborative program that offers a couple of Brandenburg Concertos and music of Vivaldi.

Bach is back in the limelight in March for a 325th birthday salute with Roberts and Whear.

The season will close in April with music of Haydn, Mozart and Mozart's nemesis, Salieri, played by Whear, violinists Greg Mulligan and Ivan Stefanovic, violist Sharon Pineo Myer, and fortepianist Eva Mengelkoch.

BALTIMORE SUN FILE PHOTO (AP)

Posted by Tim Smith at 12:06 PM | | Comments (0)
        

Post a comment

All comments must be approved by the blog author. Please do not resubmit comments if they do not immediately appear. You are not required to use your full name when posting, but you should use a real e-mail address. Comments may be republished in print, but we will not publish your e-mail address. Our full Terms of Service are available here.

Please enter the letter "i" in the field below:
About Tim Smith
I was born in Washington, D.C., and grew up there. Initial thoughts of becoming a cocktail pianist faded when I realized I hated taking requests. I decided to study music history instead, and got a B. A. in that field from Eisenhower College in Seneca Falls, New York, and an M.A. from Occidental College in Los Angeles. After free-lance gigs for the Washington Star and the Washington Post, I worked as classical music critic for the South Florida Sun-Sentinel during the 1980s and '90s, a period when I also ventured into radio, contributing to NPR and hosting a weekly show on a West Palm Beach station. Since April 2000, I've been classical music critic at the Baltimore Sun. Over the years, I've written occasional articles for the New York Times, BBC Music Magazine and other publications, and I'm a longtime, regular contributor to Opera News and the U.K. magazine Opera. You may still be able to find on the remainder racks my one and only book, The NPR Curious Listener's Guide to Classical Music (Perigee, 2002).
-- ADVERTISEMENT --

Recent posts

Baltimore Sun coverage
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
Marin Alsop
PHOTO GALLERY
Famous faces in classical music
Local links and resources
BALTIMORE AREA RESOURCES
• Marin Alsop's official site
• An die Musik
• Bach Concert Series
• Baltimore Chamber Orchestra
• Baltimore Choral Arts Society
• Baltimore Classical Guitar Society
• Baltimore Concert Opera
• Baltimore Opera Co. Inc.
• Baltimore Opera Theatre
• Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
• Community Concerts at Second/Chamber Music by Candlelight
• Concert Artists of Baltimore
• Greater Baltimore Youth Orchestra
• Handel Choir of Baltimore
• Lyric Opera House
• Maryland State Boychoir
• Mobtown Modern
• Music in the Great Hall
• Opera Vivente
• Peabody Institute
• Pro Musica Rara
• Soulful Symphony
• Shriver Hall Concert Series
• Towson University Center for the Arts
• UMBC Arts Calendar
• University of Baltimore Student Center Performing Arts Theater

WASHINGTON AREA RESOURCES
• Clarice Smith Center
• Kennedy Center
• Music Center at Strathmore
• National Philharmonic
• National Symphony Orchestra
• Washington National Opera
• Washington Performing Arts Society

ANNAPOLIS AREA RESOURCES
• Annapolis Chorale
• Annapolis Opera
• Annapolis Symphony Orchestra

MARYLAND RESOURCES
• Maryland Symphony Orchestra

CLASSICAL RESOURCES
• Arts Journal
• Musical America
• New Music Box
Most Recent Comments
Blogroll
Monthly Archives
Stay connected
Powered by Movable Type 3.36