Constantinople

Marco Beasley, a specialist in Renaissance music, joins forces with Constantinople to celebrate, in music, a bridge that Leonardo da Vinci designed in 1502. The longest and boldest bridge of the time, it was to span the Bosporus and thus link Europe and Asia. But it was never built; the plans, however, were preserved in the artist’s archives. Five centuries later, Tabassian re-imagines this bridge with the help of 16th- and 17th-century works from the manuscript archives of the national libraries of Istanbul and Florence.

Marco Beasley, a specialist in Renaissance music, joins forces with Constantinople to celebrate, in music, a bridge that Leonardo da Vinci designed in 1502. The longest and boldest bridge of the time, it was to span the Bosporus and thus link Europe and Asia. But it was never built; the plans, however, were preserved in the artist’s archives. Five centuries later, Tabassian re-imagines this bridge with the help of 16th- and 17th-century works from the manuscript archives of the national libraries of Istanbul and Florence.

Marco Beasley, a specialist in Renaissance music, joins forces with Constantinople to celebrate, in music, a bridge that Leonardo da Vinci designed in 1502. The longest and boldest bridge of the time, it was to span the Bosporus and thus link Europe and Asia. But it was never built; the plans, however, were preserved in the artist’s archives. Five centuries later, Tabassian re-imagines this bridge with the help of 16th- and 17th-century works from the manuscript archives of the national libraries of Istanbul and Florence.

This meeting and dialogue between the kora and the setar seemed to come from the depths of the earth, as though these instruments, along with the viola da gamba and percussion, had always existed side by side.

This meeting and dialogue between the kora and the setar seemed to come from the depths of the earth, as though these instruments, along with the viola da gamba and percussion, had always existed side by side.

This meeting and dialogue between the kora and the setar seemed to come from the depths of the earth, as though these instruments, along with the viola da gamba and percussion, had always existed side by side.

With the great master of the Spanish Renaissance, a truly golden age of polyphony came to light. They knew how to incorporate in a mainly French and Flemish context the tracks left by the Moores and Muslim cultures, so present in medieval Spain.

With Fahmi Alqhai, one of the greatest virtuoso of viola da gamba, and his Accademia del Piacere, an important ensemble of the Spanish early music, Constantinople started a musical journey between Iberian cultures and those from Perse and Central Asia, rediscovering music with sumptuous colours and a rare aesthetical richness.

This program is the meeting of three captivating musical traditions, deeply rooted in the essence of breath, the vital force that connects all cultures and peoples. The songs and drums of the Mi’kmaq, the invocations of Inuit throat singing, and the deep, evocative sounds of the musicians of Constantinople come together in this concert that celebrates the power of breathing in music. The sounds of nature are carried by two inheritors of living Indigenous traditions, Darlene Gijuminag and Celina Kalluk.

This program is the meeting of three captivating musical traditions, deeply rooted in the essence of breath, the vital force that connects all cultures and peoples. The songs and drums of the Mi’kmaq, the invocations of Inuit throat singing, and the deep, evocative sounds of the musicians of Constantinople come together in this concert that celebrates the power of breathing in music. The sounds of nature are carried by two inheritors of living Indigenous traditions, Darlene Gijuminag and Celina Kalluk.