Das Consort Franckfort
Das Consort Franckfort was founded in 1994 by tenor Edmund Brownless, a specialist in early music. Under his direction, the professional singers of the ensemble perform a spectrum of music ranging from medieval to modern, in an emotional, lively and entertaining manner.
An ensemble comprising
four sopranos, a mezzo soprano, a counter tenor, two tenors, a baritone and
a bass is perhaps unusual, but the clear bright voices of Das
Consort Franckfort showed themselves here to be extremely versatile.
Frankfurter Rundschau
The sheer variety
of timbres enables Das Consort Franckfort to perform vocal music from all
periods convincingly. Early music, especially polyphonic, sounds
clear and precise; the music of later periods full, rich and sonorous.
All the singers are trained soloists who provide a high level of technique,
musicality and sense of style. In using one singer to a voice,
the ensemble achieves a transparency of sound resulting in a
new hearing experience - even for well known works. Das Consort Franckfort
seeks to create an authentic performance through the relationship
of historical pronunciation, rhetoric and music.
Das Consort Franckfort specializes in the performance of vocal
works composed for as many as 10 voices. The repertoire encompasses
the stylistic demands of a Notre-Dame Organum, the polyphony of Byrd
and Victoria, the highly chromatic music of Gesualdo, the virtuosity
of Monteverdi solo madrigals, the technical difficulties of a
Bach motet, the full sound and emotion of Mendelssohn and Brahms and the
musical accuracy needed for modern music, such as that of Messiaen.
The press:
... an especially musical jewel ...
An
ensemble which distinguished itself through an original repertoire and above
all through the quality of the performance.
Das
Consort Franckfort developed the tension of the dissonances with an impressive
calmness, and the result showed the charm of modern music - even
to the most stubborn traditionalists.
Frankfurter Rundschau