This Season: Camerata Nova and Canzona are
joining forces to produce the Mass for Christmas Morning by Michael Praetorius
Canzona is made up of some of the finest choral singers and soloists in the province and is committed to bringing Baroque Masterworks to Manitoba audiences. The works of J. S. Bach have been the mainstay, but those of Handel, Vivaldi, Zelenka, Scarlatti, and Purcell are also in the repertoire. Canzona has brought a number of premiére performances to local audiences – notably, Requiem by Campra, the Swedish Mass by Roman; and the Vespers of 1744 by Nicola Porpora, which had a very successful premiere performance here last season.
Canzona continues to enjoy what has become a long-standing relationship with the MusikBarock Ensemble. The latter, under the direction of Eric Lussier, has given numerous outstanding performances of Baroque instrumental music; and is a supportive collaborator with Canzona.
In the spring of 2008 Canzona stepped ‘outside the (Baroque) box’ to record the choral works of Winnipeg composer, Robert Turner. This CD is scheduled to be released in October.
For this season another collaboration has been struck. We are delighted to announce that Camerata Nova and Canzona are joining forces to produce the Mass for Christmas Morning by Michael Praetorius.
Get your tickets today!
Tickets:
Praetorius Project: An Early Christmas Mass - $25, $22 Seniors, $10 Students
Concert II - $23, $20 Seniors, $10 Students
Available: McNally Robinson Bookstores or call Canzona @ 942-1917
Season tickets (adults only) $40.00. These are available only by telephone.
Concert I
Praetorius Project: An Early Christmas Mass
Mass for Christmas Morning, Michael Praetorius (1571-1621)
8:00 PM - Wednesday, November 26
8:00 PM - Thursday, November 27
Crescent Fort Rouge United Church
Praetorius’ Mass for Christmas Morning will be a joint production on a grand scale. For this production Camerata Nova, another front-running Winnipeg early music ensemble, will join forces with Canzona. This fascinating four-choir work comes directly out of the multi-choir tradition established years earlier by the Gabrielis in Italy. It consists of distinct families or groups of instruments and voices that provide a vast array of vocal and instrumental color and contrast throughout.
Cornettos and sackbuts will make up the brass choir, contrasted by recorders and dulcimer, strings, organ and theorbo. An array of solo singers and styles of solo song will compliment the rich choral textures of the late Renaissance. Several familiar hymns, incorporated into the work, will call on the audience to join the combined choirs and the ‘band’ of players in a unique opportunity to be part of the performance experience.
Works like this are rarely performed even in centres where the performers on these special instruments are available because of the many component parts required. That makes it all the more special and unique for both organizations to present a ‘production’ of the Mass for Christmas Morning.
Images (click to open)
Concert II
Mass in b minor, J. S. Bach (1685-1750)
7:00 PM - Sunday, April 5, 2009
Westminster United Church
Bach’s Mass in b minor is one of the towering masterpieces of all time. It never ceases to amaze us that this large-scale work was written in small units over a period of more than two decades…some for very specific purposes, i.e. Sanctus (the first to be written) for Christmas Day in 1724. Yet the b minor Mass as we know it today, was assembled only in 1747, is remarkably unified. The complete work was never performed by Bach (or anyone else) in his lifetime.
The wide range of instrumental color created by the choice of many different solo and paired instruments in the vocal solo arias; the diverse styles in the choral movements with their masterful fugues and their forward-driving motion; and the orchestra punctuated by brilliant passages for the three trumpets, are but some of the features that create numerous climactic moments throughout. It is truly a work of genius.
As always, MusikBarock Ensemble will join Canzona for yet another choral-orchestral collaboration.
Soloists
Marni Enns, soprano
Kirsten Schellenberg, alto
Robert MacLaren, tenor
Victor Engbrecht, bass
