Our Third CD release since July, a “Greatest Hits” compilation
Byzantium: 330-1453
Cappella Romana announces the release of its 11th recording, the official companion CD commissioned for the exhibition, BYZANTIUM: 330-1453, at London’s Royal Academy of Arts (25 October ’08 to 22 March ’08. www.royalacademy.org.uk).
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The Royal Academy calls this new CD “A glorious collection of choral music which traces the rise and fall of the Byzantine Empire, all sung by the world’s leading performers of Byzantine chant, Cappella Romana.”
The new CD, Cappella Romana’s third release in 2008, is a compilation of earlier recordings. It features tracks from Epiphany, Cappella Romana’s first full-length recording of Medieval Byzantine chant, as well as from the CD titles The Fall of Constantinople, Byzantium in Rome, and Music of Byzantium. The disc will initially be available in the UK and Europe exclusively through the Royal Academy.
The Royal Academy of Arts in London is the fourth major world museum to have engaged Cappella Romana for its expertise in Medieval Byzantine Chant, joining these three institutions:
• The Metropolitan Museum in New York (Byzantium: Faith and Power, 2004; with CD selling 12,000 copies)
• The J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles (Byzantium and the West, 2004 and Icons from Sinai, 2006)
• The Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. (In the Beginning: Bibles before the Year 1000, 2006)
The first evening lecture of “Byzantium: 300-1453” was given by Dr. Alexander Lingas, Cappella Romana’s founder and artistic director, on 7 November 2008. Titled “The Heavenly Liturgy: Byzantine Psalmody to 1453, ” it was enhanced by sung demonstrations by Dr. Lingas, Cappella singer John Michael Boyer, and three cantors from Hagia Sophia Cathedral, London.
The Royal Academy’s exhibition has received major press coverage in the UK and throughout the world, including a review and photo essay in Time magazine (Fri., 24 Oct. 2008).
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