Michael Pospíšil (born 1962) is a classical

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

, specialising in

historically informed performance Historically informed performance (also referred to as period performance, authentic performance, or HIP) is an approach to the performance of Western classical music, classical music which aims to be faithful to the approach, manner and style of ...

. He is the founder and leader of the ensemble Ritornello which performs music of the 16th and 17th centuries for voices and a great variety of instruments. Pospíšil studied voice at the

Prague Conservatory The Prague Conservatory () is a public music school in Prague, Czech Republic, founded in 1808. Currently, the school offers four- or six-year courses, which can be compared to the level of a high school diploma in other countries. Graduates c ...

from 1981 to 1986. He took master classes with Marius van Altena and

Stephen Stubbs Stephen Stubbs (born 1951) is a lutenist and music director and has been a leading figure in the American early music scene for nearly thirty years. Born in Seattle, he studied harpsichord and composition at the University of Washington where, at ...

, among others. He has collaborated internationally with ensembles such as Musica Antiqua Praha, Capella Regia Musicalis, Bornus Consort and the

Tölzer Knabenchor The Tölzer Knabenchor (Tölz Boys' Choir) is a world-famous Boys' choir, boys' choir named after the Upper Bavarian district town of Bad Tölz and based in Unterföhring near Bavarias capital Munich. Also associated with the choir is the Men's ch ...

. In 1993, he founded the ensemble Ritornello. The chamber group concentrates on music of the 16th and 17th centuries. A core group consists of three musicians who sing and are able to play several instruments. They perform music which they study scholarly from manuscripts and early publications. Their instruments are historic or faithful reproductions, including lute, theorbo, Baroque guitar and violins, hurdy-gurdy, Renaissance bagpipes and trombones, organ, dulcian, flutes,

viola da braccio Viola da braccio (from Italian "arm viola", plural ''viole da braccio'') is a term variously applied during the baroque period to instruments of the violin family, in distinction to the viola da gamba ("leg viola") and the viol family to whic ...

and viola da gamba. The ensemble performs sacred music as well as traditional songs and music for dance and banquet. They recorded for example music from ''Capella Regia Musicalis'', a hymnal by

Václav Karel Holan Rovenský Václav Karel Holan Rovenský (1644 in Rovensko pod Troskami – 27 February 1718 in Rovensko pod Troskami) was a baroque composer and organist from Bohemia.Clapham, John, and Eva Mikanová. "Holan Rovenský, Václav Karel." Grove Music Online. 200 ...

in 1693–94 "as an instrument of the Counter-Reformation", including not only hymns, but small cantatas, dramatic scenes, even music of the Protestant

Moravian Brethren The Moravian Church, or the Moravian Brethren ( or ), formally the (Latin: "Unity of the Brethren"), is one of the oldest Protestant denominations in Christianity, dating back to the Bohemian Reformation of the 15th century and the original U ...

, mostly in Czech. It has been described as "one of the jewels of Czech musical history". In 1998, Pospíšil recorded

Jakub Jan Ryba Jakub Šimon Jan Ryba (surname also Poisson, Peace, Ryballandini, Rybaville; 26 October 1765 – 8 April 1815) was a Czech people, Czech teacher and composer of european classical music, classical music. His most famous work is the ''Czech Christm ...

's ''Česká mše vánoční'' (

Czech Christmas Mass ''Czech Christmas Mass'' (; ) is a pastoral mass (music), mass written by the Czech composer Jakub Jan Ryba in 1796, a mass in name only and thus an anomalous example of its genre (Missa pastoralis, less often Missa pastoritia). Because of its open ...

) with Gabriela Eibenová,

Magdalena Kožená Magdalena Kožená, Lady Rattle (; born 26 May 1973) is a Czech mezzo-soprano. Early life Kožená was born in Brno in Czechoslovakia. Both her parents had come originally from Bohemia, to the west. She was born one of the two daughters of a ma ...

, Jaroslav Březina, the Calmus Ensemble and the Capella Regia Musicalis. In 2004, he sang the bass part in Bach's ''

Christmas Oratorio The ''Christmas Oratorio'' (German: ''Weihnachtsoratorium''), , is an oratorio by Johann Sebastian Bach intended for performance in church during the Christmas season. It is in six parts, each part a cantata intended for performance in a churc ...

'' in St. Martin, Idstein, with Katia Plaschka,

Franz Vitzthum Franz Vitzthum is a German countertenor, a male classical singer in the alto vocal range, specialising in Baroque music. He was trained as a boy singer with the Regensburger Domspatzen and studied with Kai Wessel at the Musikhochschule Köln. He ...

and the orchestra Antichi Strumenti.

Selected discography

* ''Upside Down! or Ba©chanalistica'' (Bohemian Baroque Carmina Burana) (ARTA F1 0145) * Felix Kadlinský – ''The Nightingale-in-despite (Zdoro-slavíček)'' (1634/1665) – the Czech translation of the collection of sacred songs Trutznachtigall by Fridrich Spee von Langenfeld, translated by Kadlinský in 1655 (ARTA F1 0140) * Karel Václav Holan Rovenský (1694) – Ritornello and Capella Regia Musicalis (ARTA F1 0124) * Adam Václav Michna z Otradovic – ''Christmass Mass'' (1654), Václav Karel Holan Rovenský, Alberik Mazak, Friedrich Bridel, Vendelin Hueber (Restoration of an Early Baroque Christmass Divine Service) (ARTA F1 0120) * ''A-Birding We Will Go!'' (Hunting Songs of Baroque Bohemia) (ARTA F1 0108) * ''Old Czech Carols "The Nativity"'' (Czech Christmas Dances from Baroque Hymnals) (ARTA F1 0103) * ''The Carnival Has Arrived / Masopust juž nastal'' (Czech Carnival Folk Song Collection From About 1680) (ARTA F1 0085) * Adam Václav Michna z Otradovic – The Czech Lute (ARTA F1 0104)

References

External links

*
Michael Pospíšil Discography
at

Discogs Discogs ( ; short for " discographies") is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. Database contents are user-generated, and described in ''T ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pospisil, Michael Czech basses 1962 births Living people Prague Conservatory alumni