The reviews are in

We have had three excellent reviews so far for Orchestra London's production of Handel's Giulio Cesare. Click each link to read the full article.

"Giulio Cesare brings two of the world’s leading counter tenors – Drew Minter (Cesare) and Ian Howell (Tolomeo) – to the stage. Both handled the intricacies of Handel’s vocal writing with marvelous finesse."
- Nicole Laidler - Beatmagazine.ca

"Arriving from opera’s international stages are American early music star and Grammy-winning countertenor Ian Howell who is remarkable as Tolomeo, Cleopatra’s fanatical, theocratic brother, and Dutch mezzo Rosanne van Sandwijk as Sesto."
- James Reaney - The London Free Press

"Ian Howell's portrayal of Tolomeo was chilling. And he has a beautiful voice. His final aria was heart-rending and also served as a reminder that his character too, was vulnerable."
- Brian Hay - norules-nolights.com

New Video - J.C. Bach "Ach daß ich Wassers gnug hätte" (Lamento) with Chatham Baroque

This is one of my favorite pieces in the baroque repertory. Written by Johann Christoph Bach (1642-1703), this lament beautifully captures the German sense of intensely internalized personal piety. "Oh, that I had enough tears in my head to bewail my sins..." That sort of thing :-).
With Chatham Baroque, an amazing small ensemble based in Pittsburgh, PA. Recorded February 21st, 2010.



Translation:
Oh, that I had water enough in my head
And that my eyes were springs of tears,
So that I could bewail my sin night and day.

My sin overwhelms me.
Like a weighty burden,
it has become too much more me,
So I weep, and mine eyes flow with tears.
My sighing is great, and my heart is sad,
for the Lord has filled me with grief
In the day of his wrath.

Mourn, Day is with Darkness Fled - John Dowland Lute Song... Recent Videos

A lute song by John Dowland (1563-1626). This is from Dowland's second book of Ayres, a collection that also contains his song, "Flow my Tears". The text describes a pseudo-apocalyptic scenario in which day is overcome by night, hell has taken over heaven, and evil mists are choking off our joys. Heavy stuff for a lute song!

Text:
Mourn, mourn, day is with darkness fled,
What heav'n then governs Earth?
Oh, none but hell in heaven's stead
Chokes with his mists our mirth.

Mourn, mourn, look now for no more day
Nor night, but that from hell.
Then all must, as they may,
In darkness learn to dwell.

But yet this change needs must change our delight.
That thus the Sun should harbor with the night.

Ian Howell - Countertenor
Karl Wohlwend - Guitar

Recorded live at the Merit Music School in Chicago, IL.
Thanks to the Ravinia Festival for arranging this lecture demonstration.
Audio and video recorded with a Flip HD video camera, edited in iMovie.

Laudate Dominum - C.M. Cozzolani... Recent Videos

Chiara Margarita Cozzolani, a benedictine nun in the Italian city of Milan, published this cantata for solo voice and two violins in 1648.

Tableau Baroque:

Ian Howell - Coutertenor
Adam Lamotte & Tekla Cunningham - Violins
William Skeen - Viola da Gamba
Henry Lebedinsky - Harpsichord

Text:

Praise the Lord, all you nations.
Praise him, all you people.
For confirmed upon us is his mercy.
And the truth of the Lord remains forever.
Glory to the Father, glory to the Son
And glory to the holy spirit.
As it was in the beginning, is now,
And always shall be.
Unto ages of ages.
So be it.

Recorded 15 August 2009 at the Whidbey Island Music Festival.

http://www.whidbeyislandmusicfestival...

For more information about Ian Howell and Tableau Baroque.
http://www.ianhowellcountertenor.com
http://www.tableaubaroque.org

Holy Messiah Source Material... Recent Videos

One of Handel's Italian duets, originally for two sopranos, re-scored for alto and violin obligato. The two arias in this cantata served as the source material for Handel's choruses "His yoke is easy" and "And he shall purify" from his oratorio, "Messiah."

Ian Howell - Countertenor
Tekla Cunningham - Violin
William Skeen - Cello
Henry Lebedinsky - Harpsichord

Text:

The flower that laughs at dawn
later will be killed by the Sun
and has its tomb in the evening.

Life is a flower
it is destroyed at dawn
and in one single day loses its springtime.

Recorded 14 August 2009 at the Whidbey Island Music Festival.

http://www.whidbeyislandmusicfestival...

For more information about Ian Howell and Tableau Baroque.
http://www.ianhowellcountertenor.com
http://www.tableaubaroque.org

This video was recorded with a FlipHD camera (that didn't like the intensity of the stage lights).
Audio was recorded with a matched pair of Avenson ST0-2 omni-directional microphones.

Rehearsals, Day 1

posted by Henry Lebedinsky

17 February 2009

2:00 a.m.

Scenic Hartford, Connecticut. My home town, I guess. I miss New England in winter. Down home in NC, the trees are flowering, the crocuses are blooming (and being eaten by my chickens) and it's pushing 60 degrees every day. Up here, it's in the 20s. Bracing, wonderful cold.

Tableau is rehearsing at Asylum Hill Congregational Church on Asylum Ave. in Hartford. The recession is hitting the area hard. It makes me sad to see the empty buildings and general urban malaise. We're in for it, it seems. Inside, we escape from it all with our music. Ian and Michael met for the first time, and sang beautifully together. 

A German baroque cantata by Johann Schelle and Italian duets by Steffani and Handel were on the menu, with extra virgin olive oil, freshly-grated Parmesan cheese, and prosciutto. Handel's 'Quel fior ch'al alba ride' was the source material for the Messiah chorus 'His yoke is easy.' The music makes much more sense with the Italian words, especially the rippling, jovial melisma on the word 'ride' (laughs) 

Perhaps a nice chianti?

I'll take Guinness.

The famous House of Nanking

When I first moved to San Francisco in 2000, I lived at a weekly hotel in Chinatown while I looked for a place to live.  The first nice restaurant we went to (to congratulate ourselves on our fine Chinatown digs, I guess?) was the House of Nanking (on Kearny between Jackson and Columbus).  

It was a small affair at the time.  If you managed a seat at one of the six or so tables, the owner would greet you, ask what sort of food you were interested in, and order for you.  

Well... seven years later they have expanded!  Over dinner break yesterday (between rehearsal and our performance of Messiah at Grace Cathedral), a few of my colleagues and I headed over to the House of Nanking.  (Thank you Blackberry for the navigation.)  

The restaurant has expanded to include the next-door space.  Gone was the long line (although it was 5 PM), and the over-eagerness of the owner.  

The food was excellent!  Of interest was this green tea concoction that they brought.  The tea-tritus is a mixture of tea leaves, edible flower buds, and some sort of berry.  And a bunch or completely inedible stems :-).  

After the owner took our order, I asked him how we were supposed to drink it?  

"Just sip it" was his response...  

We ended up straining it with our teeth.  

I would recommend the food to anyone visiting China town!

2008-2009 Season

I am pleased to annouce my 2008-09 season.
I will make debuts with several groups, including:


The Vancouver Chamber Choir (Chichester Psalms),
The Choral Arts Society of Philadelphia (B-Minor Mass), and

The Staunton Music Festival (Theodora).

I return to sing with:

The Choir of Men and Boys of Saint Thomas
Fifth Ave (Messiah),
The Princeton Glee Club (B-minor),
and one of my favorite groups, The American Bach soloists
(Messiah, Pergolesi Stabat Mater & Handel Italian Duets with soprano Mary Wilson).


I also launch my first tour with the Baroque ensemble Tableau in February-March of 2009.


And don't forget, my CD with the American Bach Soloists (see story below) will be released in December! Check back for more info,
or
join my mailing list to receive a notice.

Handel's Inheritance/Tableau Web-launch

Iconic composers are not born great; they are the synthesis of everything they have heard,
learned, and experienced and their music is a reflection of their world as they knew it.
Thus it was for George Frideric Handel (1685-1759), a composer best known for the Italian
Operas and English Oratorios that comprised the bulk of his mature output. But what about
young Handel? What music would have been playing in the courts and chapels of his youth?
What about the music of his teachers? What innovations did Handel borrow, and what new
musical ideas did he unleash upon the world?



Join me and Tableau Baroque in the Spring of 2009 for a concert exploring
the sonic landscape of Handel's formative years.  



We are proud to launch a new website
promoting these concerts.