Midtown Concerts • The Baltimore Consort
The Food of Love ~ Songs, Dances, and Fancies for Shakespeare
Danielle Svonavec ~ soprano
Mary Anne Ballard ~ treble & bass viols
Mark Cudek ~ cittern
Larry Lipkis ~ bass viol, recorder, crumhorn & gemshorn
Ronn McFarlane ~ lute
Mindy Rosenfeld ~ flutes, fifes, bagpipes & crumhorn
Shakespeare’s stage band combined strings and winds (such as our viols, lute, cittern, and flutes). This “broken” consort played a repertory which “reflected the remarkable synthesis of popular taste and humanist eloquence which gave vitality to the Shakespearean theatre” in appealing to “every level of spectator, from the simplest groundling who could hum along with his favorite ballad tune, to the most sophisticated gallant who could take delight in the rich harmony and embroidery surrounding the melody.” (Sydney Beck). The program will present popular ballads, love songs, and instrumental dances related to the plays.
Founded in 1980 to perform the instrumental music of Shakespeare’s time, the Baltimore Consort has explored early English, Scottish, and French popular music, focusing on the relationship among folk and art song and dance. Recordings on the Dorian label have earned the ensemble recognition as Top Classical-Crossover Artist-of-the-Year (Billboard). Besides touring in the United States and abroad, the ensemble has performed on syndicated radio broadcasts including St. Paul Sunday, Performance Today, Harmonia and the CBC’s OnStage.
