InAlto

Laus Polyphoniae 2026, Antwerp

~ Andrew Benson-Wilson

Laus Polyphoniae 2026
Voices of Europe circa 1600: continent of counterpoint
Antwerp
21 – 29 August 2026


Laus Polyphoniae is the annual summer festival organised by AMUZ (Flanders Festival Antwerp), dedicated to the music of the Middle Ages and Renaissance. Since its inception in 1994, the festival has become the largest festival dedicated to the western heritage of polyphony following a focus on Historically Informed Performance (HIP). Following last year’s festival devoted to “Polyphony from the age of cathedral builders (1140-1440)”, this year the focus was on music of the decades around 1600 with Voices of Europe circa 1600: continent of counterpoint reflecting a period when music was at a defining moment of change as the polyphony of Palestrina gave way to the early Baroque gestures of Monteverdi. Music that would later be called Renaissance or Baroque existed in parallel, as demonstrated by the festival’s portrait of this many-voiced Europe as music printing opened the transmission of new ideas, as composers and scores migrated. Laus Polyphoniae also focuses on young up-and-coming talent through the International Young Artist’s Presentation (IYAP), reviewed here, held on the first Saturday of the Festival.

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Laus Polyphoniae – Polyphony of life

~ Andrew Benson-Wilson

Laus Polyphoniae – Polyphony of life
Antwerp
19-23 August 2022

After a three-year Covid-induced hiatus when Laus Polyphoniae ran a much-reduced series of live and online events, the 2022 Festival restored the postponed 2020 edition, under the title Polyphony of life. As usual, the festival was run by AMUZ (Flanders Festival Antwerp) in conjunction with the Alamire Foundation, the study centre for music in the Low Countries and part of KU (Katholieke Universiteit) Leuven. As the name implies, Laus Polyphoniae is devoted to the music of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance when polyphony was paramount.

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Cavalieri Imperiali

~ Andrew Benson-Wilson

Cavalieri Imperiali
Zenobi & Sansoni, the great cornetto masters
InALTO, Lambert Colson
Ricercar RIC419. 64’36

The cornett was the principal solo instrument in the late Renaissance and early Baroque eras, before losing that role to the violin. Its sound closely resembles that of the human voice, to the extent that, in a review, I once referred to a talented young soprano as being “a cornett on legs”. This excellent instrumental recording from InALTO pays tribute to two notable cornett players from the decades on either side of 1600, both of whom were knighted by an emperor.

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Teatro Spirituale: Penitential music in the Chiesa Nuova, Rome c1610

~ Andrew Benson-Wilson

Teatro Spirituale
Penitential music in the Chiesa Nuova, Rome c1610
Alice Foccroulle, Reinoud van Mechelen
InAlto, Lambert Colson
Ricercar RIC399. 72’15

This is one of the finest recordings I have heard in a while. Beautifully planned and performed, with singing and instrumental playing of the highest quality combined with exemplary recording quality. It reveals an intriguing insight into the musical activities of the Chiesa Nuova Oratory Church of St Philip Neri in Rome, the location of the premiere of the first known spiritual opera, Cavalieri’s La Rappresentatione di Anima e di Corpo. Continue reading →

Tage Alter Musik Regensburg 2019

~ Andrew Benson-Wilson

Tage Alter Musik Regensburg 2019
Bavaria, Germany. 7-10 June 2019

The Regensburg Tage Alter Musik festival takes place annually from Friday to Monday over the Pentecost/Whitsun weekend, whose dates move linked to Easter. The 2019 festival, the 35th, took place over the weekend of 7-10 June, rather later than in previous years and the latest Pentecost weekend until 2030. With 15 concerts over these four days, it is a total immersion of early music performed in some spectacular buildings in Regensburg city centre. The historic city of Regensburg has its roots in the Celtic settlement of Radasbona and the Roman Castra Regina fort, remnants of which can still be seen. It was the early Medieval capital of Bavaria. The 12th-century bridge over the Danube increased its importance as a Free Imperial City within the Holy Roman Empire. It adopted the Reformation in 1542 but retained its Catholic Cathedral and Abbeys. From 1663 to 1806, it was the permanent seat of the Imperial Diet of the Holy Roman Empire, the so-called ‘Perpetual Diet’. The whole of the historic city centre is now a World Heritage Site. Continue reading →

Regensburg: Tage Alter Musik 2018

~ Andrew Benson-Wilson ~ 1 Comment

Tage Alter Musik Regensburg
18-21 May 2018

Seventeen concerts of early music in just four days is the promise of the Regensburg Tage Alter Musik festival. It is held annually over the Pentecost/Whitsun weekend, alongside non-musical Regensburg celebrations, including a beer festival and fairground that brings the local youth out in their distinctive Bavarian outfits. Tage Alter Musik takes place within the architectural and historic delights of this beautiful city on the Danube – the entire city centre is a World Heritage site. Venues for the concerts include austere Gothic, glittering Baroque/Rococo, and the historic Reichssaal in the Altes Rathaus, for centuries the permanent seat of the Parliament of the Holy Roman Empire. The weekend runs from Friday evening, with two concerts, followed by five concerts on Saturday, Sunday and Monday, the latter including a concert that started at 00:15 in the morning!

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