Apollo's Fire
Apollo's Fire, The Cleveland Baroque Orchestra is a popular and critically acclaimed[1] period-instrument ensemble specializing in early music (Renaissance, Baroque and early Classical) based in Cleveland, Ohio. The ensemble unites a select pool of early music specialists from throughout North America and Europe. Under the direction of Artistic Director Jeannette Sorrell, the ensemble has been praised internationally for a fresh and vibrant approach to baroque performance, and for creative and innovative programming.
History
Named for the classical god of music and the sun, Apollo's Fire was founded in 1992 by Jeannette Sorrell with the assistance of flutist Kathie Lynn Stewart and Roger Wright, then Artistic Administrator of the Cleveland Orchestra (now with the BBC). The orchestra received a start-up grant from the Cleveland Foundation in 1992, and made its debut to critical acclaim in June of that year. Sorrell envisioned an ensemble dedicated to the baroque ideal that music should evoke the various Affekts or passions in the listeners. Apollo's Fire is a collection of creative artists who share Sorrell's passion for drama and rhetoric.
Apollo’s Fire is frequently broadcast on National Public Radio, including SymphonyCast, NPR World of Opera, and Performance Today, as well as many holiday specials. The ensemble can also be heard on Britain’s BBC, Canada’s CBC Radio 2, and the European Broadcasting Union.
Together with Jeannette Sorrell, Apollo’s Fire received the 1995 Noah Greenberg Award from the American Musicological Society, given for an outstanding project involving the collaboration of scholars and performers, and was awarded the 1998 Northern Ohio Live Achievement Award for Classical Music.
Apollo's Fire also has a crossover/folk wing, specializing in traditional music of the British Isles and North America, performed on period instruments in an historically informed aesthetic. The ensemble was awarded a major grant through the NEA American Masterpieces initiative in 2009, for Jeannette Sorrell's innovative crossover program, "Come to the River: An Early American Gathering."
Apollo’s Fire made its London debut in 2010 in a sold-out concert at Wigmore Hall, with a BBC broadcast. AF returned to Europe in 2011 and 2014, to Madrid’s Royal Theatre, Bordeaux’s Grand Théàtre de l’Opéra, and major venues in Lisbon, Metz (FR), London and Birmingham (UK) and Bregenz (Austria). In summer 2015, Apollo’s Fire makes its debut at the Tanglewood Festival, the BBC Proms in London, the Aldeburgh Festival (UK), and the Festival Paesaggi Musicali Toscani in Tuscany. The tour program, “A Night at Bach’s Coffeehouse,” features Brandenburg Concerto no. 5 with Jeannette Sorrell as soloist.
Apollo’s Fire has also toured throughout North America, appearing at the Aspen Music Festival, the Boston Early Music Festival series, the Library of Congress, the Tropical Baroque Festival in Miami, the Ojai International Festival in California, and major venues in Boston, Toronto, Los Angeles and San Francisco. The ensemble has performed two major U.S. tours of the Monteverdi Vespers (2010 and 2014) and a 9-concert tour of the Brandenburg Concertos in 2013. Apollo’s Fire is signed to Columbia Artists Management (CAMI) for exclusive representation in North and South America, and is managed in Europe by Intermusica (London).
In Cleveland, Apollo’s Fire enjoys sold-out performances at its subscription series, which has drawn national attention for creative programming. Apollo’s Fire has released 20 commercial CDs, and currently records for the British label AVIE. Four of the ensemble's CD releases have become best-sellers on the classical Billboard chart: the Monteverdi Vespers, Bach's Brandenburg Concertos, and Jeannette Sorrell’s two crossover programs, "Come to the River" and "Sacrum Mysterium: A Celtic Christmas Vespers."
Discography
- Handel
- Messiah
- Released Nov. 1996, ONDA
- Noels and Carols from the Old World
- Released Oct. 1999, ECLECTRA ECCD-2041
- Monteverdi
- Vespers of the Blessed Virgin
- Released Apr. 1999, ECLECTRA ECCD-2038
- J.S.Bach
- Brandenburg Concertos
- Released Sept. 2000, ECLECTRA ECCD-2047
- Bach
- St. John Passion
- Released Mar. 2000, ECLECTRA ECCD-2044
- Vivaldi and Friends
- Released October. 2001, ECLECTRA ECCD-2059
- Vivaldi Concerto in B minor for Four Violins - Allegro (457KB, 3:53)
- Vivaldi Four Seasons - Summer - Presto (374KB, 3:12)
- Bach Concerto for Four Harpsichords - Largo (244KB, 2:04)
- Monteverdi
- L’Orfeo
- Released April. 2001, ECLECTRA ECCD-2052
- Scarborough Fayre:
- Traditional tunes from the British Isles & the New World
- Released May 2004, KOCH KIC CD 7552
- Mozart
- Symphony No.35 in D, K.385 (Haffner),
- Symphony No. 41 in C, K.551 (Jupiter) and Overture to Don Giovanni
- Released May 2004, KOCH KIC CD 7574
- Telemann
- Don Quixote
- Concertos and Suites
- Released Summer 2005, KOCH KIC CD 7576
- Mozart
- Piano Concerto No. 20 in D minor, K.466 and
- Piano Concerto No. 23 in A major, K.488
- Released Spring 2005, KOCH KIC CD 7575
- Mozart
- Requiem, K.626
- Exsultate, jubilate, K.165
- Released 2006, KOCH KIC CD 7685
- Praetorius
- Christmas Vespers - Selections from Polyhymnia caduceatrix (1619), Musica Sionae (1621), Puericinium (1621), Terpsichore (1612)
- Released 2007, KOCH KIC CD 7673
- Mozart
- Symphony No. 40 in G minor, K. 550
- Lucio Silla, K. 135 (Amanda Forsythe, soprano)
- Ballet Music from Idomeneo, K. 367
- Dances/Tanze
- Released 2010, AVIE CD 2159
- Come to the River, An Early American Gathering
- Released 2010 Apollo's Fire
- Released 2011, AVIE CD 2205
- Vivaldi & Friends
- La Folia (Madness), Concerto grosso after Sonata Op. 1, no. 12, arr. Sorrell
- Concerto in B minor for Four Violins, Op. 3, no 10, RV 580
- Concerto "L'Estate (Summer)", Op. 8, no. 2, RV 315
- Concerto in G minor for Two Cellos, RV 531
- Concerto in A minor for Four Harpsichords by J.S. Bach, transcribed from Vivaldi, BWV 1065
- Concerto in D minor for Two Violas da Gamba by Rene Duchiffre (Rene Schiffer, b. 1961)
- Rereleased, AVIE CD 2211
- Bach Brandenburg Concertos
- Brandenburg Concerto No. 1 in F major, BWV 1046
- Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 in F manor, BWV 1047
- Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 in G major, BWV 1048
- Brandenburg Concerto No. 4 in G major, BWV 1049
- Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 in D major, BWV 1050
- Brandenburg Concerto No. 6 in B-flat major, BWV 1051
- Harpsichord Concerto in D minor, BWV 1052
- Harpsichord Concerto in F minor, BWV 1056
- Violin Concerto in D minor, BWV 1052 (reconstruction)
- Rereleased, AVIE CD 2207
- Monteverdi
- Vespro della beata vergine (1610) 400th Anniversary Edition
- Rereleased, AVIE CD 2206
- Handel
- Messiah
- Amanda Forsythe, Elizabeth Shammash, Ian Honeyman, Ross Hauck, Jeffrey Strauss, soloists
- Rereleased, AVIE CD 2208
- Sacrum Mysterium: A Celtic Christmas Vespers
- Meredith Hall, soprano; Ensemble La Nef
- Bonus DVD
- Released 2012, AVIE CD 2269
- Handel
- Eternal Source of Light Divine: Ode for the Birthday of Queen Anne, HWV 74
- Zadok the Priest, HWV 258
- Dixit Dominus, HWV 232
- The Lord Shall Reign (from Israel in Egypt), HWV 54
- Kiera Duffy and Meg Bragle, soloists
- Released 2012, AVIE CD 2270
- AF Live No. 1: Vivaldi's Seasons Rediscovered
- La Primavera (Spring)
- L'Estate (summer)
- L'Autunno (Autumn)
- L'Inverno (Winter)
- Concerto in G minor for Two Cellos, RV 531
- Recorded live in concert February 2008
- Released 2011 by Apollo's Fire (in house)
- AF Live No. 2: Handel
- Water Music Suite in F, HWV 348
- Selections from Water Music Suite in G, HWV 350
- Selections from Water Music Suite in D, HWV 349
- Selections from Ballet Suite Terpsichore, HWV 8b
- Music from the Royal Fireworks, HWV 351
- Recorded live in concert(s) 2002, 2004, 2007
- Released 2012 by Apollo's Fire (in house)
- AF Live No. 3: Mediterranean Nights
- Songs and Dances from Italy and Spain
- Nell Snaidas, soprano
- Recorded live in concert(s) 2004 & 2005
- Released 2012 by Apollo's Fire (in house
- AF Live No. 4: Mozart: The Magic Flute (Highlights), K. 620
- Recorded live in concert March 2012
- Released 2012 by Apollo's Fire (in house)
- AF Live No. 5: Virtuoso Orchestra
- Vivaldi Concerto in B minor for Four Violins, Op. 3, no.10
- Bach Concerto for Violin and Oboe in C minor, BWV 1060
- Vivaldi Concerto in D major for Flute "Il Gardellino", RV 428
- Heinichen Selections from Concerto Grosso in G manor, SeiH 213
- Bach Brandenburg Concerto No. 4 in G manor, BWV 1049
- Recorded live in concert(s) 2012, 2013, 2014
- Released 2014 by Apollo's Fire (in house)
References
- ↑ Cummings, Robert. "Appollo's Fire - Music Biography, Credits, Related...". allmusic.com. Rovi Corp. Retrieved 21 October 2012.