Search - Joao Lourenco Rebelo, Diogo Dias Melgaz, Harry Christophers :: A Golden Age of Portuguese Music

It is a constant joy for us as performers to discover remarkable compositional feats and champion them in performance and on disc. Here we explore Portugal; after all Portugal is our oldest ally; many thousands of Britons, me and my family included, holiday there every year but most know little about its musical heritage. In the 1600s, Portugal was at the forefront of exploration, first the Indies and then Brazil; the Braganza court was flourishing and soon to restore the monarchy from the hands of the Spanish. Lisbon and Evora were places of musical excellence; the courts were attracting fine musicians from all over Europe and indeed sending their finest to be tutored in Italy. But it often takes one man to encourage excellence in the arts -Don Joao IV was very much that man.He was himself a composer and dedicated most of his spare time and money to the acquisition of music. His library was the largest in Europe and was full of the masterpieces of the Renaissance, Palestrina, Guerrero and Morales, and also printed works by Monteverdi and the Gabrielis. He tirelessly protected and promoted his musicians and allowed the likes of Rebelo, his undisputed favourite, and Melgas to develop their individuality. We hope that you will share with us in the pleasure of bringing this extraordinary Music to life. "All the music is of a high quality, and it is excellently performed... The singers are quite superb... one of the best and most interesting discs by The Sixteen in recent years, and the sound is excellent." Gramophone