Hana Blažíková / Bruce Dickey / The Breathtaking Collective

Bruce Dickey has completely dedicated himself to rediscovering the cornet. Today, largely disappeared from concert life, the wooden, in most cases crescent-shaped, instrument with a mouthpiece similar to those on trumpets was incredibly popular in the 16th and 17th century, especially in combination with singing. Like a second voice, the cornet ornaments the clear soprano of early music star Hana Blažíková, gets into sensitive dialogue and vies for the most splendid coloraturas and flourishes.

The singer and cornetist, both of whom are regularly on stage with the greats of historical performance practice, such as Sir John Elliot Gardiner, Ton Koopman and Jordi Savall, have put together a fascinating selection of secular and sacred pieces for »On the Breath of Angels«. Accompanied by strings, theorbo, organ and harpsichord, dramatic operatic arias and intimate movements from motets sound. »Breathtaking listening experiences!« enthuses a reviewer of the related album. After this concert, one wonders how and why the cornet could have fallen so much out of fashion.