From London to Dhaka, from Brihuega to Venice, a non-exhaustive look back at a week in early and Baroque music in Europe and beyond, between major stages and more unexpected paths. 
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Apollo’s Fire on tour in the United States and London
Apollo’s Fire brought to a close at St Martin-in-the-Fields, London, a tour that had taken the ensemble to Chicago and New York with a new version of O Jerusalem! – Crossroads of Three Faiths, created by Jeannette Sorrell. In this musical journey through the four quarters of Jerusalem’s Old City, Jewish, Christian, Arab and Armenian, intersecting influences emerge with particular force. A Sephardic ballad leads into a classical Arabic love song; excerpts from Monteverdi’s great Vespers of 1610 echo the ecstatic chant of Jewish cantors. The rhythms of everyday life, love, song, dance and prayer, culminate in a joyful celebration of shared humanity.
With Apollo’s Fire and Jeannette Sorrell.
Barbaroco at the Nostalgia Festival in Spain
In Brihuega, in the autonomous community of Castile-La Mancha, the ensemble Barbaroco, directed by Eliaz Hercelin, played to a full house at the first edition of the early music festival Nostalgia, with the programme Glosas de oro, devoted to the splendour of the Spanish Renaissance. With this new festival, Brihuega aims to revive a long musical tradition. It was in this town that Sebastián Durón (1660-1716), composer of polyphonic works, cantatas and operas, later organist of the royal chapel of King Charles II, was born, as was his brother Diego Durón (1653-1731).
With Ensemble Barbaroco and Eliaz Hercelin.
Accademia del Piacere in four concerts at the Lunalia Festival in Belgium
Orchestra in residence at the Flemish Festival Lunalia in Mechelen, near Antwerp, the Spanish ensemble Accademia del Piacere and its artistic director Fahmi Alqhai gave no fewer than four concerts. First came the opening concert, Spain on Fire, which immediately set the Flemish audience alight. As did the closing concert, Diálogos, with flamenco dancer Ana Morales and singer Alba Carmona.
With Ana Morales, Alba Carmona, Accademia del Piacere and Fahmi Alqhai.
Martin Gester and Aline Zylberajch at Milano Arte Musica
French harpsichordist Martin Gester, whose recording of Bach’s complete 18 Leipzig Chorales was recently released on Paraty, joined fellow harpsichordist Aline Zylberajch for Une soirée chez les Bach, a pre-opening event for the 20th edition of the Milano Arte Musica festival. The concert took place in the Chapter Hall of Bergognone, at the church of Santa Maria della Passione, whose fifteenth-century frescoes and paintings have recently been restored to their original beauty.
With Martin Gester and Aline Zylberajch.
Cantoría in Bangladesh
The Spanish ensemble Cantoría, directed by Jorge Losana, travelled to Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, a city of 300,000 rickshaws. At the invitation of the Spanish Embassy and the University of Dhaka, Cantoría performed excerpts from its repertoire and says it returned with more stories to tell than new programmes in its repertoire.
With Cantoría and Jorge Losana.
Ton Koopman honoured in Venice
In the Sale Apollinee of Teatro La Fenice, Venice, Ton Koopman received the Una vita nella musica 2026 award for a career devoted to early music. The founder and director of the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir follows, among others, Rudolf Buchbinder and András Schiff. After receiving the distinction, Ton Koopman conducted the Orchestra and Chorus of Teatro La Fenice at the Teatro Malibran in a Mozart programme bringing together the Ave verum corpus, the Coronation Mass and Symphony No. 40.
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