Tiburtina Ensemble
Sunday, May 7, 2023, 4 p.m. Corpus Christi Church
Sunday, May 14, 2023, 4 p.m. Online
Barbora Kabátková, director, soprano
Hana Blažíková, soprano, medieval harp
Since 2008 the women of Tibertina Ensemble from Prague have mesmerized European audiences singing medieval repertory, secular and sacred, while playing their own harp acconpaniment. They make their North American debut bringing hymns, antiphons, conducti, and sequences by the famous Hildegard of Bingen, 12th-century abbess, mystic, writer, and composer. Hildegard’s music is highly individual, often elaborate and melismatic. The program opens with an antiphon, “O rubor sanguinis,” and ends with antiphons praising the Virgin Mary.
“The singing by the … female voices of the Tiburtina Ensemble is so exquisite that this is an hour of sheer delight. This is some of the most persuasive and simply beautiful singing that I have heard recently.” —Early Music Review
The virtual program becomes available on Sunday, May 14, 4 p.m. ET and remains viewable until May 28.
Artist Bios and Program
Established in 2008 in Prague, the Tiburtina Ensemble of female voices specializes in the interpretation of Gregorian chant, medieval polyphony, and contemporary music. During the fourteen years of its existence, this ensemble has become among the best in Europe in the field of early music performance, thanks to its unmistakable timbre and its ardent expression. The group devotes its concert programs not only to vocal and instrumental compositions of the Middle Ages, but also to non-traditional projects that combine medieval music with other musical genres. The ensemble performs at leading concert venues in the Czech Republic as well as elsewhere in Europe. In 2011 it released its first compact disc, Flos inter spinas (Blossoms among the Thorns) on the Supraphon label. The second CD, Apokalypsis, was released on Animal Music label in 2013. Ricercar label has released two CDs of the ensemble: Ego sum homo with music of Hildegard of Bingen (2016), and Cor Europae with the Nativity chants from medieval Prague (2019). Sony/Deutsche Harmonia Mundi released the CD Vidi Speciosam (2018) in which Tiburtina together with Capella de la Torre perform music of Tomas Luis de Victoria.
The ensemble took its name from a figure in medieval history, the Tiburtine Sibyl. She became the best known sibyl of the Middle Ages mainly because her prophesies were closely connected to Christianity. The parallels between the pagan sibyl and the Christian prophetess are obvious: their noble origins, their preaching expeditions, the inquiries from persons in positions of power, and their ability to see all the way to the end of the world, something which was denied to men—however learned they might be.
Tickets
Individual Tickets
Preferred Center: $55/$50
Center: $45/$40
Premium Balcony and Sides: $40/$35
Balcony: $30/$25
Partial View: $15/$10
Blocked View: $10/$5
Virtual Concert: $15
Season Subscriptions
Regular Subscription: $176-$336
Partial Subscriptions: $96-$264
Virtual Subscription: $80
Student Tickets
We offer $5 student tickets to all in-person and virtual concerts.
