“To edit it is to receive the kiss of death as a scholar. To perform it is to court disaster. To write about it is to alienate some of one’s best friends” was the 20th-century musicologist Denis Arnold’s pithy summary of the myriad questions surrounding Monteverdi’s 1610 Vespers …” Gwilym Bowen I took this photo… Read More Monteverdi Vespers at Three Choirs
It was just about three years ago, that the Lutheran Church of Honolulu launched its historic performances of Monteverdi’s Vespers of 1610. You may remember how miraculous those performances were, in that the whole production, from conception to closing night, was a span of only five months. John Renke is St. Andrew’s Cathedral called Carl Crosier… Read More Remembering Monteverdi
No, we didn’t sing any Monteverdi during the six Christmas services the past three days, but I thought I’d share what I gave Carl for Christmas. It was a photo memory book of our Monteverdi Vespers performances, with lots of photos and the “behind-the-scenes” story. You can actually see the book here, and order one… Read More Christmas and Monteverdi
It has been just over a week since our Monteverdi concerts and that beautiful music is still stuck in my head! It seems like everywhere we go, we encounter people who were at one of the performances and were so profoundly moved by it all. For some people, it was almost a religious, “mountain-top” experience,… Read More Dear Friends of Monteverdi . . .
We are continuing to receive thanks and accolades for our recent performances: If you did NOT attend the Monteverdi, you missed one of the most amazing musical events to take place in Hawaii since statehood! Kudos to Carl Crosier for outdoing himself by putting together all the right people and for undertaking to do such… Read More Accolades for Monteverdi
The Monteverdi Choir (we’ve already renamed the group!) and The Whole Noyse brass group was asked to come to St. Andrew’s Cathedral on Sunday at 2:45 pm for a sound check, since we had never rehearsed in the space before for this piece. Naturally in a different church with different architecture and acoustics, the setup… Read More Magnificent Monteverdi at St. Andrew’s
Here’s another endorsement for the Monteverdi Vespers from Hawaii Public Radio’s Judy Neale: Congratulations to Early Music Hawaii and the Lutheran Church of Honolulu for a phenomenal performance of the Monteverdi Vespers at the Co-Cathedral of St. Theresa last night (and now I even know what a co-cathedral is!). Carl Crosier and his cohorts have… Read More More Monteverdi
Last night was the last dress rehearsal before tonight’s Monteverdi Vespers performance at St. Theresa’s Co-Cathedral. It was the first time we went straight through the work, stopping after No. 10 Lauda Jerusalem,where in the concert there will be a 20-minute intermission. The first half lasts nearly an hour, but the second half is shorter, about… Read More Monteverdi Dress Rehearsal
“Pulling out all the stops” — isn’t it great that an organ term is in the mainstream? It means to make every effort, and we have certainly tried to use every avenue to “get the word out” about this monumental undertaking. In mid-September we published and distributed our season brochure, and the day after our… Read More Pulling out all the stops for Monteverdi
Over 30 years ago, Carl and I helped to organize a regional convention in Hawaii for the American Guild of Organists. I was General Chair and Carl was Program Chair, positions we were “volunteered” for before we got married. So we had no idea that it would be so time-consuming and energy-exhausting! For six months… Read More The Three Tenors sing Monteverdi