Baroque Music – janellesnotes

CB Fisk organ — The C.B. Fisk Op. 148 Organ in Centennial Chapel

This Friday, Cincinnatians will have a chance to hear a rare concert on a spectacular pipe organ that is a recent addition to Centennial Chapel in Christ Church Cathedral, downtown.

Fisk organ 2 Italian organist and harpsichordist Giulio Francesco Togni performs a free recital on the C. B. Fisk Opus 148 organ in Centennial Chapel, 7:30 p.m. Friday, March 1. His program will be 17th-century music of Italian composers Pasquini, Frescobaldi, Rossi, Storace, and Corelli.

Born in 1998, Togni is something of an organ prodigy. At the age of 16, he became the organist at the Church of San Giuseppe in Brescia, where he plays the historic organ of 1581 by Graziado Antegnati — the “Stradivarius in organ building,” says Harold Byers.Read More »

Countertenor Iestyn Davies joined Harry Bicket and the CSO in a rare Baroque concert at Music Hall. Photo provided by CSO/Kayla Moore

Harry Bicket’s Baroque concert of Handel and Rameau brought a breath of fresh air to the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra over the weekend.

A glance at the program told the story of how rare it was to hear these Baroque gems in Music Hall. Every single piece on the program – even Handel’s Concerto Grosso Op. 6, No. 11 – was being performed by the orchestra for the first time.

And there was no better partner in this repertoire than the superb British countertenor Iestyn Davies, who made his Cincinnati debut in arias from Handel operas. Davies is one of a new generation of countertenors now making international waves. Read More »

Italian organist to perform on unique C.B. Fisk pipe organ at Christ Church Cathedral

CSO’s Baroque gems with Bicket a rare treat