Dionysos Now!

In Dionysos Now! two sons of Rumbeke, West Flanders, reach out to each other across five centuries. Tenor Tore Tom Denys and his vocal ensemble put the spotlight on Tore’s fellow Rumbeker Adriaan Willaert, one of the Renaissance Flemings who sent music off in a new direction. We can trace Willaert's path from when he entered the service of the d'Estes in Ferrara as a singer barely 15 years old, visiting Rome, Hungary and maybe even Kraków, before finally ending up in Venice. There he was appointed maestro di cappella of St Mark’s and tasked with giving the Doge's city the splendour of a 'new Rome', which he duly did! Partly thanks to his many illustrious pupils, Willaert’s music has resounded through the centuries ever since.

Willaert’s bestseller – and undeniable masterpiece! – was Musica Nova, a collection of serious motets and expressive madrigals from 1559, the latter almost all to texts by Petrarch. They are all exemplary pieces, from which Dionysos Now! has compiled a convincing portrait of the greatest 'Italian' composer of his time.