 |
J S Bach B minor Mass Wells
Cathedral Saturday, 10th
November 2007 |
Canzona
CANZONA was formed in 1992 and
comprises some of this country’s leading players of period
instruments. The core of the ensemble consists of the classic trio
sonata formation with two violins and a continuo section and many of
Canzona’s concerts are as a chamber group. They are often
joined by a singer and have performed with many distinguished soloists
including James Bowman and Peter Harvey. The players of Canzona have a
particular passion for 17th century music, but whatever they are
playing, from Monteverdi to Mozart, they make every effort to play on
appropriate instruments for the period. During 2003 and 2004, Canzona
was the Resident Ensemble at Magdalen College, Oxford, and gave a
series of concerts and workshops there.
Canzona is frequently expanded to orchestral proportions and has
performed with many outstanding choirs and conductors including Stephen
Layton, both with Polyphony and the Holst Singers, with whom they have
given performances of Messiah and Bach’s Christmas Oratorio,
B Minor Mass
and St John
and St Matthew Passions
at St.
John’s Smith Square, King’s College Cambridge,
Salisbury Cathedral and Romsey Abbey. Canzona also has a strong
association with The Leith Hill Musical Festival in Surrey, conducted
by Brian Kay, in which it has performed Monteverdi's Vespers, Handel's
Messiah and
Bach's Magnificat,
Brandenburg Concerto No.
3, and St
John
and St Matthew Passions.
Other engagements have included appearances
at the Royal Festival Hall, the Three Choirs Festival, the Spitalfields
Festival, Wells Cathedral, St.Albans Cathedral, Blackburn Cathedral,
Douai Abbey, the Bradford Festival Choral Society, Merton College
Oxford, Trinity College Cambridge, St Martin in the Fields and St.
George’s, Hanover Square.
Future plans include return visits
to Blackburn with Messiah
and the St John Passion,
performances of
Monteverdi’s Vespers
at Douai Abbey and in the Mayfield
Festival, another return visit to The Grove Park Festival in Chiswick,
this time in a programme of Purcell and Handel with the two
counter-tenors, James Bowman and Iestyn Davies, and the annual Passion
at The Leith Hill Musical Festival, this time the St Matthew.
Canzona’s recording on the EtCetera label of motets by
André Campra [1660-1744] for one, two and three voices with
Philippa Hyde, Rodrigo del Pozo and Peter Harvey was hailed as
“a wonderful new disc” and “an absolutely
glorious debut” by Sean Rafferty on Radio 3’s In
Tune programme and has received much critical acclaim both here and
abroad.
| VIOLIN 1: | Theresa Caudle, Frances Turner, Diane Moore |
| VIOLIN 2: | William Thorp, Alison Townley, Pauline Smith |
| VIOLA : | Stefanie Heichelheim, Emma Alter |
| CELLO: | Mark Caudle |
| VIOLONE: | Peter McCarthy |
| FLUTE: | Christine Garratt, Katy Bircher |
| OBOE: | James Eastaway, Catherine Latham, Joel Raymond |
| BASSOON: | Siona Spillett, Rebecca Stockwell |
| HORN: | Andrew Clark |
| TRUMPET: | Robert Farley, John Hutchins, Ross Brown |
| TIMPANI: | Adam Dennis |
| ORGAN: | Andrew Arthur |