Musica Antica e Nuova

Musica Antica e Nuova

Musica Antica e Nuova. Society founded in Montreal in 1951 by Célia Bizony for the purpose of organizing concerts, as its name implies, of early and new music. Possibly for the first time in Canada, early music was researched intensively and given performances of the greatest possible authenticity. During its five years of existence the society enlisted the participation of Bernard Diamant, Mario Duschenes, Maureen Forrester, Mildred Goodman, Jean-Paul Jeannotte, Otto and Walter Joachim, John Newmark, Jan Simons, Jon Vickers, and other outstanding performers. Sunday recitals and four or five other concerts a year were presented in the auditorium of the YWCA, at Victoria Hall, or at other halls. Five chamber music concerts for the Montreal Festivals in 1953 and 1954 consisted of little known works by composers ranging from Telemann to Alban Berg. The society ceased to exist in 1955, when Bizony returned to England. In 1954, with some of the above-mentioned performers, it made an LP (Hallmark RS-6) containing, among other works, Jean Papineau-Couture'sÉglogues.