The November 8th performance features Scottish, Italian, English, and French music illustrating the life of Mary, Queen of Scots, with live narration by Emmy Award-winning television and radio personality Robert Aubry Davis. 

From being called to the throne just days after birth to tumultuous and tragic marriages to her public execution, the performance illustrates the short but dramatic life of Mary Stuart, also known as Mary, Queen of Scots. Her compelling life story has influenced not only The Baltimore Consort’s program but also numerous novels, movies, television shows, and plays. 

The performance begins with upbeat Scottish music that describes a garden in May. The program then transitions to French music, drawing on pieces by the great dance master Thoinot Arbeau and the infamous French poet Pierre de Ronsard. Concertgoers will also hear music by Mary’s Italian Catholic personal secretary, musician, and rumored love interest, David Rizzio. 

The Baltimore Consort will also play a piece by Maddalena Casulena, a female composer who was the first woman to publish her madrigals and may have known Rizzio. The second half of the program opens with music by William Byrd, the text that Edward Paston may have written as an elegy for the executed Queen. 

The performers in the consort include:

• Danielle Svonavec (soprano).
• Mindy Rosenfield (winds).
• Mary Anne Ballard (viols).
• Larry Lipkis (viols and recorders).
• Mark Cudek (cittern).
• Ronn McFarlane (lute).
• Robert Aubry Davis as narrator. 

“In addition to Scottish music this program incorporates music from the French court Mary would have heard in her childhood, English music from the end of her life, and a short detour to the Italy of her murdered secretary, the lutenist David Rizzio,” said Mark Cudek, founding member of The Baltimore Consort.

Along with melodic music, the program features narration by guest narrator Robert Aubry Davis. A Washington DC native, Davis is the creator and host of “Millenium of Music,” a nationwide radio program dedicated to celebrating music from the thousand years before the birth of Bach. Since 1986, he has also hosted the Emmy Award-winning arts program “Around Town.” He is a frequent guest contributor to both national and international publications, as well as a lecturer for seminars and performances with organizations like the Baltimore Consort, the Smithsonian Early Music Series, and the Folger Consort. 

TICKETS AND DETAILS

Chatham Baroque presents The Baltimore Consort’s performance “In Angel’s Wede: Music of Mary, Queen of Scots.” The concert will be held on November 18, 7:30 pm at Calvary Episcopal Church, located at 315 Shady Avenue Pittsburgh, PA 15206.

Tickets and more information about the performance are at https://www.chathambaroque.org/concert/the-baltimore-consort-in-angels-wede-music-of-mary-queen-of-scots/. 

Categories: Arts and Ideas