In the News

Performing Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony on period instruments: violinist Christina Day Martinson

—The Strad

“The Boston Baroque concertmaster shares her experiences and the challenges faced by string players when playing Beethoven’s mighty Ninth Symphony on period instruments…”

Boston Baroque serves up a stylish and individual “Messiah”

—Katherine Horgan, Boston Classical Review

“Handel’s Messiah (1741) is a staple of the American Christmas tradition. Even though the bulk of the piece focuses on Christ’s death and resurrection, many of Boston’s fine ensembles perform the Messiah from November to January in celebration of the holiday season. Boston Baroque’s annual performance took place Saturday night, led by Martin Pearlman, with…”

A Welcome Season Treasure for the 42nd Time

—Aaron Keebaugh, Boston Musical Intelligencer

“One of the best-known choruses in Handel’s Messiah usually breaks forth with the bold assurance of divine retribution. But as Boston Baroque performed ‘He shall purify; at Jordan Hall Sunday afternoon, the chorus and period instrument orchestra opted for hushed intensity. The music glowed rather than blazed…”

10 classical concerts to light up your holiday season

—A.Z. Madonna, The Boston Globe

“The 50-year-old period instrument orchestra hosts its twin holiday traditions, first heralding Christmas with ‘Messiah’ featuring vocal soloists Amanda Forsythe, Tamara Mumford, Karim Sulayman, and Roderick Williams…”

Holiday concerts offer soundtrack to the season

—Jed Gottlieb, Boston Herald

“For something a bit more intimate, try Boston Baroque’s take on the piece…”

A comprehensive guide to fall's classical music performances

—Lloyd Schwartz, WBUR

“At its half-century mark, Boston Baroque — founded by Martin Perlman, who is still music director— is the city’s oldest period-instrument orchestra, and the playing has always been on the highest level. This fall, BB is giving us a historical instrument performance of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony…”

Staff Pick: Boston Baroque at 50

—Nell Porter Brown, Harvard Magazine

“As a young harpsichordist, Martin Pearlman first saw musicians performing on period instruments in Amsterdam. Intrigued, he thought he’d try to replicate a similar concert in America…”

The Class of ‘73

—Inge Kjemtrup, Strings Magazine

“What was it about early 1970s that made it such a fruitful time for period instrument ensembles? There must have been something in the air that inspired a handful of young musicians to champion a new, more scholarly approach to performance of Baroque and Classical music. The Class of ’73 was particularly dynamic and includes Boston Baroque…”

Opera Streaming Revolution: Boston Baroque, IDAGIO, And GBH Music Unveil Digital Innovation For Global Audiences

—Christos A. Makridis, Forbes

“On the heels of its 50 year anniversary, Boston Baroque, in partnership with IDAGIO and GBH Music, premiered an incredible series of performances on April 20th of the opera Iphigénie en Tauride by Christoph Willibald Gluck with a digital streaming and will remain available for $9 per stream until May 21st. Under the musical direction of Martin Pearlman and leadership of Jennifer Ritvo Hughes, Boston Baroque has become a leading cultural institution and innovator…”

Two classical music ensembles invest in a digital future

—Lauren Williams, WBUR

“It happened quickly. Within days of the slow roll of lockdown ordinances, it seemed the entire world moved online. Universities, non-emergency healthcare practitioners and large corporations alike learned how to virtually host meetings in an attempt to continue business as usual. Classical music organizations were no different…”

Iphigénie en Tauride

—Keith Powers, Opera News

“CHRISTOPH WILLIBALD GLUCK wanted to innovate. He succeeded. The eighteenth-century composer invested his operas with sustained dramatic tension, easing ornament and excess out of his score. His goal was to present unbroken narrative—compelling stories from start to finish—with a complementary mix of instruments, voice and words, a century before Wagner would develop those principles. Gluck’s insights were realized propitiously by the Boston Baroque orchestra…”

‘Iphigenié en Tauride’ is mythological melodrama at its finest

—A.Z. Madonna, The Boston Globe

“It always seems to happen in these mythological operas. Everything seems like it’s settled, the characters’ fates are sealed, and suddenly a deus ex machina shows up to save the day.

This certainly holds true in Gluck’s “Iphigenié en Tauride,” in which the goddess Diana (the Roman equivalent of Artemis) miraculously appears to clear up complications within a few bars of music. But it also applies to Boston Baroque’s production of the same opera, which opened its three-show stand at GBH’s Calderwood Studio on Thursday evening…”

Pushing the Envelope: Boston Baroque stages Iphigénie en Tauride, Gluck’s ultimate “reform opera”

—Matthew Gurewitsch, Air Mail

“Boston Baroque bills itself as North America’s first permanent Baroque orchestra. In its 50th season under the harpsichordist Martin Pearlman, its founder and music director, the ensemble continues to evolve and thrive. A year ago, Pearlman’s forces dazzled in the Handel rarity Amadigi di Gaula, staged with ingenious economy in a local radio studio, with the instrumentalists in full view of the live audience and viewers online. On April 21, Boston Baroque writes its next chapter with a livestream of Iphigénie en Tauride…”

Iphigénie triumphs in more ways than one as Boston Baroque stages Iphigénie en Tauride

—Kevin Wells, Bachtrack

“‘Lightning never strikes twice,’ so the saying goes. Or does it? Meteorologically speaking, definitely. Metaphorically speaking even more so, as Boston Baroque’s revisiting Iphigénie en Tauride proves. Nearly 25 years ago Martin Pearlman and his period instrument group gave a landmark performance of Gluck’s opera which helped cement Christine Goerke’s reputation as a singer to reckon with. Now, in its fiftieth season, they may have given a similar boost to soprano/opera entrepreneur, Soula Parassidis…”

Boston Baroque, fine cast, wrap season in style with a Gluck rarity

—Jonathan Blumhofer, Boston Classical Review

“Though his influence on the development of opera was immense, Christoph Willibald Gluck’s contributions to the genre are today anything but repertoire staples. This makes Boston Baroque’s season-closing presentation of his Iphigénie en Tauride at GBH’s Calderwood Studio last weekend a conspicuously welcome event…”

Boston Baroque’s “Iphigénie en Tauride”

—Aaron Keebaugh, The Arts Fuse

“It begins like few other operas of its time: with strings and winds swirling like a gathering storm. Through it all, Iphigénie, priestess to Diana in Scythian Tauris, sings of a troubling dream in which she is forced to sacrifice her beloved brother Orestes to appease the tyrannical Thoas.

But the concentration of music and drama in Christoph Willibald Gluck’s Iphigénie en Tauride is as much a tale of friendship and family amidst the trials of imprisonment in a foreign land. Friday night at GBH’s Calderwood Studio in Brighton, conductor Martin Pearlman and Boston Baroque revealed that hope can emerge from even the gravest situation…”

Soula Parassidis Shines in Iphigénie en Tauride

—Arturo Fernandez, Schmopera

“Abrupt casting changes due to injury can always bring a strange energy to a performance: the performers usually have to adjust to whoever they’re playing off, and audiences also do need to adjust expectations due to disappointment. There are a great many times where it can also get in the way of the energy of the performance. But there is that rare last-minute cast swap that ends up being for the better…”

Innovating the Subscription Model

—Advisory Board for the Arts

“The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted cultural organizations on many different levels. One of the most evident challenges, particularly during times of closure, was the somewhat forced shift to digital platforms to keep programming alive and to enrich audience engagement. For some organizations, this led to a new strategic focus on expanding online endeavors.

One such organization is Boston Baroque. We recently interviewed Jennifer Ritvo Hughes, the orchestra’s Executive Director…”

A bracing year of classical music

—Jeremy Eichler, The Boston Globe

“Music, as we know, is always slipping away from us, the sounds vanishing almost as soon as they arrive. I’ve often then wondered whether an extra sense of meaning attaches to those few concerts that push back against this radical ephemerality, those programs that, against all odds, stay with you. This year many of these more memorable performances angled music’s powers outward into a darkened world…”

Best of the Arts 2022: 10 memorable classical performances

—Jeremy Eichler, The Boston Globe

“Mykola Lysenko, “Prayer for Ukraine,” Boston Baroque led by Martin Pearlman…”

Boston's classical music performances dazzled in person — and still online — in 2022

—Lloyd Schwartz, WBUR

“Martin Pearlman’s Boston Baroque, in a co-production with Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra & Chorale, presented a rare and splendid performance of Handel’s early opera ‘Amadigi di Gaula,’ at GBH’s intimate…”

Spring forward into a season of classical music delights

—Lloyd Schwartz, WBUR ARTery

“Back in 1999, Martin Pearlman and his period-instrument orchestra, Boston Baroque, gave Boston a rare taste of a neglected masterpiece—Christoph Willibald Gluck’s late 18th-century French “tragédie lyrique” based on Euripedes…”

Boston Baroque to Stream ‘Iphigénie en Tauride’

—Francisco Salazar, OperaWire

“Boston Baroque is set to conclude its 50th season with two programs in March and April…”

Boston Baroque’s Martin Pearlman Celebrates 50 Years of Music-Making

—Emma Greaves, WHRB Harvard Radio Broadcasting

“We chatted with Martin Pearlman about the upcoming two programs on March 25-26 and April 20-23, his serendipitous, nimble 50 years with the organization, and the future of Boston Baroque.”

BB Appeals to Heart and Brain

—Geoffrey Weiting, The Boston Musical Intelligencer

“Ongoing traditions such as Boston Baroque’s New Year’s Day concert play a major role in helping us recover a sense of normalcy after nearly three years of COVID angst. On Sunday at Sanders Theater, Music Director Martin Pearlman and his ensemble provided their trademark selection of repertoire appealing to both heart and brain…”

Celebrating 50 Years with BB

—David Patterson, The Boston Musical Intelligencer

“Live and via livestreaming, Boston Baroque performed its annual New Year’s Eve Concert from WGBH’s Calderwood Studio. Bach, Telemann, and Vivaldi came across from Aldo Abreu, Joseph Monticello, Amanda Forsythe and friends within that special fusion of period instruments and present-time sensitivity we have come to know from BB over five decades…”

High 5: New Year’s Eve Events

—Scott Roberto, BostonGuide.com

“Add some class to New Year’s Eve with Boston Baroque’s annual concert, which takes place at the GBH Calderwood Studio in Brighton at 8 p.m. The program, led by Martin Pearlman, includes Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 6 and…”

Boston Baroque exalts Handel’s ‘Messiah’

—Jeffrey Gantz, The Boston Globe

“Music director Martin Pearlman presented a polished, pared-down concert well-suited to Jordan Hall on Sunday afternoon…”

Boston Baroque Publishes Editions, Cadenzas, & Ornaments by Martin Pearlman

—Francisco Salazar, OperaWire

“Boston Baroque has announced that it is proud to add to its Resource Library five performing and critical editions, as well as cadenzas and ornamentation for various works, all created by Founding Music Director Martin Pearlman. In an official press statement, Pearlman said…”

Boston Baroque on Boston Public Radio

—Jim Braude and Margery Eagan, Boston Public Radio

“Christina Day Martinson and Ann McMahon Quintero of Boston Baroque joined us ahead of performances of Handel’s Messiah this weekend at GBH to chat and play some music….”

Their First Time

—Jeremy Reynolds, OperaAmerica

“Many opera companies' subscriptions and ticket sales have not bounced back to pre-pandemic rates, but the number of attendees brand new to the art form has jumped significantly…”

High 5: Holiday Concerts

—Scott Roberto, BostonGuide.com

“The acclaimed classical music ambassadors present its annual performances of music director Martin Pearlman’s interpretation of Handel’s beloved Messiah, at both…”

10 holiday classical concerts, from dueling ‘Messiahs’ to a Moravian Christmas

—Jeremy Eichler, The Boston Globe

“Now in its 50th anniversary season under the direction of Martin Pearlman, Boston Baroque forges ahead with its own well-established “Messiah” tradition. Returning soloists include…”

Boston Baroque fetes golden anniversary with a sterling B Minor Mass

—A.Z. Madonna, The Boston Globe

“Fifty years is a major milestone for any musical venture. For Boston Baroque, which claims to be the country’s longest-running permanent period instrument orchestra, this golden anniversary is especially significant. The organization is not only celebrating a half century with its founding music director Martin Pearlman at the helm…”

Boston Baroque opens 50th season with Bach’s majestic Mass in B minor

—Aaron Keebaugh, Boston Classical Review

“The Mass in B minor was the culmination of Bach’s religious and artistic life. A marvel of rhetorical flourish, the score weaves together lyrical beauty and operatic intensity  to relay an overall message: life is hard, humans are fallible, and solace can only be achieved by appealing to the Almighty. For conductor Martin Pearlman and Boston Baroque, the beloved score conveys desperation as much as the sublime…”

Boston Baroque founder reflects on musical milestones on 50th anniversary

—David Weininger, The Boston Globe

“The early music movement was in its fledgling days in 1973. That’s when Martin Pearlman, a former violinist who had taken up harpsichord almost on a whim, decided to put on some Baroque music concerts in Boston. Pearlman had gone to Amsterdam several years earlier…”

10 classical music concerts you can’t miss

—A.Z. Madonna, The Boston Globe

“The period instrument orchestra kicks off its 50th anniversary season with Bach’s Mass in B Minor, featuring a starry lineup of soloists including…”

A comprehensive guide to Greater Boston's fall classical music concerts

—Lloyd Schwartz, WBUR’s The ARTery

“Martin Pearlman’s Boston Baroque, ‘North America’s first permanent Baroque orchestra,’ is celebrating its 50th season. Its two programs this fall include two of the monuments of Baroque music. First, Bach’s monumental B-minor Mass, with a very strong cast of soloists…”

The Wizarding World of Handel

—Arun Rath and Jared Bowen, Open Studio

“Handel’s Amadigi di Gaula features some of his most reliable operatic themes: star-crossed lovers and Disney-esque magic. Renowned countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo plays Amadigi, who is in love with Oriana, who is also loved by another man…”

A Knight Errant in Love

—Matthew Gurewitsch, AIR MAIL

“Boston Baroque makes a stellar case for Handel’s rarity Amadigi di Gaula. Circe, Alcina, Armida … The witch who commands the elements yet cannot bind the man she loves has gone by many names. In Amadigi di Gaula, an earlyish opera from George Frideric Handel’s three-decade London period, she returns as Melissa, working her wiles on the eponymous wandering knight…”

Anthony Roth Costanzo is Handel’s Amadigi di Gaula

—Clive Paget, Musical America

“Staged and designed for digital, Handel's opera Amadigi di Gaula, a co-production between Boston Baroque and San Francisco's Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra & Chorale, is the latest in the series. Musically it is very impressive indeed with an outstanding cast led by Anthony Roth Costanzo in the title role and with Amanda Forsythe as the mercurial sorceress hell bent on having her amorous way with him…”

Boston Baroque’s Louisa Muller on Amadigi di Gaula

—Arturo Fernandez, Schmopera

“As Boston Baroque geared up for its recent star-studded run of Handel’s Amadigi di Gaula, featuring Anthony Roth Costanzo and Daniela Mack, contributor Arturo Fernandez sat down with director Louisa Muller to chat about obscure Handel operas, and what to do with all those da capo arias…”

A jewel in a new setting

—A.Z. Madonna, The Boston Globe

“Performing Handel’s opera ‘Amadigi di Gaula’ at GBH, Boston Baroque stretches to fit an unconventional space…”

Strong musical performances as Anthony Roth Costanzo makes his debut as Handel's Amadigi di Gaula with Boston Baroque

—Robert Hugill, Planet Hugill

“One of Handel's early successes in a made for video live performance from Boston with strong musical performances…”

Prayer for Ukraine

—Jared Bowen, Open Studio

“We end the show with Boston Baroque performing ‘Prayer for Ukraine,’ a hymn written by composer Mykola Lysenko a century and a half ago. This was filmed in GBH's Calderwood Studio…”

Boston Baroque’s new virtual stage is here to stay

—Jeremy Eichler, The Boston Globe

“When the pandemic hit and concert halls were shuttered, most classical music organizations were forced to develop new virtual avenues for reaching their audiences. Some of them did so grudgingly while others seemed to lean into the challenge, using it as an occasion to rethink who it is they serve — and how they do the serving. Boston Baroque happily fell into the latter category…”

Pearlman, Boston Baroque bring fresh life to Handel’s “Ode for St. Cecilia’s Day”

—Aaron Keebaugh, Boston Classical Review

“For all his work in the profitable realms of opera and oratorio, George Frideric Handel occasionally took time to write music for music’s sake. His Ode for St. Cecilia’s Day, which extols the glories of vocal and instrumental art, was written for the mere enjoyment of its players. But though it was immensely popular after its 1739 premiere, the cantata is rarely heard in live performances today. Fortunately, Martin Pearlman and Boston Baroque shed new light on this…”

Celebrating Together Behind the Grate

—Lev Mamuya, The Boston Musical Intelligencer

“The musicians at the Ospedale della Pietà, the girls’ orphanage at which Vivaldi taught, performed behind a metal grating. While the performers were on full view on Sunday, as music director Martin Pearlman wryly observed, the definitions of space in WGBH’s Calderwood Studio—the curtained entrance wall, the grating-clad wall opposite it, the inherent remove of ‘studio’ spaces as a genre—evoke the hidden and separate. What good fortune, then, to be hidden away with the musicians of Boston Baroque…”

Boston Baroque’s Inexhaustible Messiah

—Stephen Martorella

“‘…A fine Entertainment…’ was how librettist Charles Jennens described Handel’s setting of his Messiah upon its completion in 1741. This past weekend, 280 years later, Boston Baroque under founding director Martin Pearlman delivered said ‘fine Entertainment’ over the eitherwaves to my monitor (and to a small studio audience) amidst a season of Messiah performances…”

Boston Baroque Moves to All-Digital, Partners with IDAGIO

—Clive Paget, Musical America

“At a time when most U.S. arts organizations are tentatively returning to concerts halls and hoping that the new normal will pretty much resemble the old one, Boston Baroque has decided to buck the trend…”

Pearlman Reflects on Life in Music

—Siyi Fang, Telluride Newsletter

“Martin Pearlman is the founder and artistic director of Boston Baroque, America's first permanent Baroque orchestra. A conductor, harpsichordist, composer and scholar, Pearlman sat down with Siyi Fang to discuss his career and his time at Telluride…”

Boston Baroque X-tet not defined by numbers

—Keith Powers, Gannett New England

“A chamber group goes on a residency—before its first performance? Makes perfect sense. Boston Baroque has formed a new chamber ensemble from its principal players—the X-tet…”

Boston Baroque Releases Free, Online Resource Library

—Logan Martell, OperaWire

“Boston Baroque has published a free, online resource library full of performance sources, educational material, orchestration charts, and more. The digital archive is comprised of 235 musical works from over 30 composers and features…”

6 classical concerts streaming joy to your home

—Jeremy Eichler and Zoë Madonna, The Boston Globe

“Martin Pearlman’s eloquent period instrument orchestra and chorus have a big December in store. First up in the ‘Messiah’ department: On Dec. 1 the group releases its own complete version of the oratorio…”

Sounds Around Town: GBH hosts Boston Baroque for a live-stream holiday concert

—Ed Symkus, MetroWest Daily News

“One reason that Martin Pearlman has remained so interested in music over his long career is that his musical interests have always been changing. Rooted in the classical genre…”

'Tis The Season For Streaming: 7 Local Productions Go Virtual To Celebrate The Holidays

—Nathan Tavares, WBUR’s The Artery

“For those looking to get into the spirit of the Yuletide of yesteryear, Boston Baroque’s streaming of Handel’s “Messiah” features operatic performances and instruments such as the harpsichord that harken back…”

5 Things To Do This Weekend

—Arielle Gray, WBUR’s The Artery

“Need some seasonal music in your life? This virtual concert with Boston Baroque is just for you! Enjoy classics like a Christmas Concerto and Vivaldi's Concerto in C Major from the comfort of home…”

10 reasons to keep falling for classical music

—Jeremy Eichler and Zoë Madonna, The Boston Globe

“Boston Baroque is adapting with new documentary short films, archival content, and interactive zoom events…”

Fall classical music performances, without performances

—Keith Powers, Leonore Overture

“Boston Baroque has built multiple subscription packages, with robust offerings that include pop-ups, virtual events—many hosted by music director Martin Pearlman—and a deep dive into the group’s archives…”

Wendy Bryn Harmer, Susanna Phillips Headline Boston Baroque Virtual 2020-21 Season

—Opera News

“Boston Baroque has unveiled a brand new 2020-21 virtual season, which will include the online launch of monthly releases from the company’s archives. It all starts on Sept. 15 with Beethoven’s “Fidelio” starring Wendy Bryn Harmer…”

10 Essential Iphigénie en Tauride Clips to Enjoy (At Home)

—Opera News

“Christine Goerke is fabulous in this recording of Gluck’s opera with the Boston Baroque, and…”

Leaders In Early Music Ponder The Future

—Keith Powers, Early Music America

“When normal finally returns, the performing arts will be the last to know it. That’s the sobering assessment from some of early music’s most experienced leaders. Artists and presenters across the country are negotiating a zero-revenue world, and right now everyone has a cancellation story to tell…”

Susanna Phillips Headlines Boston Baroque Live Streaming Platform

—David Salazar, OperaWire

“Boston Baroque has launched Boston Baroque Live its first-ever live recorded performance streaming platform…”

Boston Baroque puts its early instruments behind modern streaming

—Zoë Madonna, The Boston Globe

“As concert halls remain closed, period-instrument orchestra Boston Baroque is jumping into the watch-at-home game with Boston Baroque Live, its first-ever streaming platform for recorded performances. The new initiative launches with a performance of Handel’s opera Agrippina…”

Susanna Phillips, Layla Claire & Maya Kherani Lead Boston Baroque 2020-21 Season

—Dejan Vukosavljevic, OperaWire

“Boston Baroque has announced its 2020-21 season featuring Music Director and Conductor Martin Pearlman in all productions at the NEC’s Jordan Hall…”

Free community concert brings Baroque music to the Strand

—Celina Colby, The Bay State Banner

“On Sunday, December 29, Boston Baroque will perform their annual free Community Concert at the Strand Theatre in Dorchester. The 60-minute concert features selections from the Boston Baroque New Year’s concert, which is performed on December 31 and January 1 at the Sanders Theatre in Cambridge. Concertmaster Christina Day Martinson says she’s most excited to perform Bach’s concerto in D for three violins…”

For Internationally-Acclaimed Soprano Amanda Forsythe, Boston Is The Place To Be

—Zoë Mitchell, Radio Boston on WBUR

“When soprano Amanda Forsythe was 22 years old, she was rejected from a graduate opera workshop at New England Conservatory. Undeterred, she found other opportunities to sing and ended up performing a Cavalli opera at Harvard. One night while performing, Boston Baroque's music director, Martin Pearlman, was in the audience. Impressed, he offered her an audition…”

Celebrating the New Year in Boston

—Rusty Gorelick, BU Today

“Head to Harvard University’s Sanders Theatre on New Year’s Eve or New Year’s Day to hear the Grammy-nominated Boston Baroque tackle two masterpieces by…”

HOLIDAY ARTS PREVIEW: 31 holiday shows that shine bright

—Nancy Olesin, The MetroWest Daily News

“All aboard, it’s tinsel time! Check out our list of holiday shows and concerts that shine bright throughout the holiday season…”

Ten ways to celebrate the holidays with classical music old and new

—Jeremy Eichler, The Boston Globe

“A long-running and dependably satisfying “Messiah” under the tireless direction of Martin Pearlman, with…”

Boston Baroque: Adept Virtuosi

—Virginia Newes, The Boston Musical Intelligencer

“Music Director Martin Pearlman led the orchestra of period instruments in a welcome display of instrumental and vocal virtuosity Friday at Jordan Hall, where we found soprano soloist Amanda Forsythe at the top of her game in a group of dazzling arias…”

Boston Baroque’s Season Begins

—James Holden, New England Monthly

“GRAMMY®-nominated Boston Baroque has announced the start of its 2019-2020 season-led by founding music director and conductor Martin Pearlman. Showcasing some of the most beloved music of the repertoire performed by a roster of renowned soloists and…”

3 Classical Music Concerts This Week: Boston

—Hanna Marcus, Classical Post

“Good news, Bostonians—your classical concert schedule for the week has been drawn up for you…Opera meets symphony as Boston Baroque performs two classical symphonies…”

10 Months of Classical Concerts You Won’t Want to Miss

—Zachary Woolfe, The New York Times

“Other Handelian concert highlights…Boston Baroque’s ‘Ariodante,’ April 24 and 25.”