# The sublimity that is Cappella Romana



## Nedeslusire

For all lovers of the Byzantine tradition, an ensemble specialized in Eastern Orthodox chant based in Portland, Oregon but working with specialists from all over the world, especially from Greece. They have produced about a dozen records so far, a Byzantinist's musical and cultural dream. This is their greatest masterpiece so far in my opinion:

"Lost Voices of Hagia Sophia is the first vocal album in the world to be recorded entirely in live virtual acoustics. It brings together art history, music history, performance, and technology to re-create medieval sacred sound in the cathedral of Hagia Sophia as an aural virtual reality."









https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_k98CAyJvDBJ0yBJQcDVyscJ1lNF66G92s

https://cappellaromana.org/
https://www.youtube.com/user/cappellaromanainc

Any Cappella Romana enthusiasts in here?


----------



## Nedeslusire

Cappella Romana offers two CDs in this release: Byzantium in Rome. It features a groundbreaking collection of medieval Byzantine chant from the Abbey of Grottaferrata, located in the suburban hills of Rome. Led by virtuoso cantor Ioannis Arvanitis, Cappella Romana recaptures the artistic vibrancy of medieval Italy's Greek minority with ecstatic 13th-century chants for St. Benedict, the monastery's founders St. Bartholomew and St. Nilos, and for the feast of Pentecost.









https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_mO8ZhFoGIVfUcBH3umYjiv8Q8APzzR6KY


----------



## Nedeslusire

Experience here the otherworldly sounds of Byzantine chant and choral works in the Eastern Orthodox tradition, from ancient hymns from Constantinople to new choral works inspired by that tradition performed by Cappella Romana.

Cappella Romana is one of the Pacific Northwest's few professional chamber vocal ensembles. It has a special commitment to mastering the Slavic and Byzantine repertories in their original languages, thereby making accessible to the general public two great musical traditions that are little known in the West.

The selections of "Angelic Light: Music from Eastern Cathedrals" feature both liturgical and para-liturgical works, seamlessly moving from ancient chant melodies to compositions by some of the world's most notable composers working in the tradition today including Rev. Dr. Ivan Moody, Peter Michaelides and Tikey Zes.









https://valleyentertainment.bandcamp.com/album/angelic-light-music-from-eastern-cathedrals


----------



## Nedeslusire

This profoundly moving and powerful music bears witness to how ancient Greek and Latin liturgical traditions were richly embellished during the Renaissance on the islands of Crete and Cyprus, all within the shared cultural space of Venetian rule. First performed by Cappella Romana at the Early Music Festival in Utrecht (Netherlands).









https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_mPGj9o6tPJTU_1E4wG-CXwAuOE6hd7K-I


----------



## Nedeslusire

In this recording, Mt Sinai Frontier of Byzantium, Cappella Romana performs exquisite Byzantine musical treasures-from the cathedrals and monasteries of the Eastern Roman Empire-preserved from destruction in the Egyptian desert at the Greek Orthodox Monastery of St. Catherine at Mt. Sinai. Features music for the medieval celebration of Vespers in honor of St. Catherine, and Byzantium's only liturgical drama, the Service of the Three Youths in the Fiery Furnace. Music originally commissioned by the J. Paul Getty Center in Los Angeles for its mega-exhibition "Icons from Sinai."









https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_kkMBuvCUCrhiFLtGL3Gjwy0c7ngKQMZx4


----------



## Mandryka

There are four recordings which I like very much. _Byzantium_, which was one of the first examples of eastern chant I heard, and I still find it impressive. _The Fall of Constantinople_ -- amongst other things it contains some very beautiful Dufay. The recently released _Lost Voices of Hagia Sophia_, which I thought was evocative and exciting, in memory it was like Peres in a way, but playing it again as I type this, it is its own thing, not derivative, and very good too. And finally a recording they made of an old organ mass, with Kimberly Marshall, the CD is called _Gothic Pipes_.


----------

