NewOlde.com Early Music Blog

Ensemble Européen William Byrd has scheduled a short tour to North America this November, with stops in San Diego, Los Angeles, New Haven, New York and San Luis Potosí, Mexico. Details are here. The concert in New Haven will be a joint appearance with the Yale Schola Cantorum, directed by founding King's Singer Simon Carrington, at St. Mary's Church, 5 Hillhouse Avenue, at 8 pm on Saturday, November 11th. The program will include three grands motets and seven petits motets by Dumont. At 4:00 pm the next day, Sunday, November 12th, the Ensemble will perform a program of works by Charpentier, Dumont, Brossard and Moulinié at Corpus Christi Church in the Music Before 1800 series.

I've been enjoying their recent recording of mid-18th Century Portuguese sacred music by João Rodrigues Esteves on the Ambronay label. It sounds quite similar to (and not inferior to) sacred music from Naples of the same era.