MOB Digital
Welcome to MOB Digital! Click below to view virtual content by category. For up-to-date information on future interviews and presentations, join our email list.
Announcing our 2021-2022 Season
Music Director Dame Jane Glover shares the exciting details of our 51st season. We can't wait to see you in person!
Baroque Notes
Enhance your enjoyment of Music of the Baroque concerts with "Baroque Notes," our pre-concert lecture series.
November 2021: Discovering Messiah
Principal Guest Conductor Nicholas Kraemer and program annotator Jennifer More discuss Handel's Messiah in preparation for the ensemble's first performances of the oratorio in over a decade.
Episode 1
Topics covered in Episode 1 include how Nicholas prepares to direct a work he's conducted over 100 times, changes in performance practice over the centuries, and Nicholas's most memorable Messiah experiences.
Episode 2
In Episode 2, Nicholas delves into the significance of Messiah's text sources and how librettist Charles Jennens's choices add nuance to the work's meaning.
October 2021: Vivaldi & Friends
Program annotator Jennifer More and guest conductor John Butt discuss the program for "Vivaldi & Friends," tracing the network of Vivaldi’s influence (and influences) from Corelli to Bach.
September 2021: Baroque Fireworks—Handel, Telemann, Garrop
Program annotator Jennifer More discusses the program for "Baroque Fireworks," including Handel's Water Music, Concerto a due cori No. 1, and Music for the Royal Fireworks. Composer Stacy Garrop shares the creative process behind Spectacle of Light, specially commissioned for our 50th anniversary.
June 2021: Musica Sacra—Bach & Purcell
Program annotator Jennifer More discusses Bach's Cantata No. 82 and Cantata No. 51 as well as the instrumental form of Henry Purcell's two In nomines in preparation for the performance on Sunday, June 6, 2021 from Faith, Hope, and Charity Church in Winnetka.
Listen to the broadcast on our Soundcloud
April 2021: Bach's Brandenburg Concertos
The fourth installment in Music of the Baroque's "Baroque Notes" series of preconcert lectures. Program annotator Jennifer More discusses Bach's Brandenburg Concertos Nos. 3, 5, & 6 in preparation for the performance on Monday, April 26, 2021, featuring the Music of the Baroque Orchestra under the direction of Principal Guest Conductor Nicholas Kraemer.
Listen to the broadcast on our Soundcloud
March 2021: Barnatan Plays Mozart
Program annotator Jennifer More discusses Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 14, Symphony No. 29, and Handel's "Arrival of the Queen of Sheba" from Solomon and Concerto grosso in A Minor, op. 6., no. 4 in preparation for the performance on Monday, March 29, 2021, featuring the Music of the Baroque Orchestra and pianist Inon Barnatan under the direction of Dame Jane Glover.
Listen to the broadcast on our Soundcloud
February 2021: "Double Trouble-Bach, Vivaldi & More"
Program annotator Jennifer More discusses Bach's Concerto for 2 Violins, Vivaldi's Concerto for 2 Violins, and grand concertos by Corelli and Handel in preparation for the performance on Sunday, February 28, 2021, featuring the Music of the Baroque Orchestra and soloists/co-directors Kathleen Brauer and Kevin Case.
Listen to the broadcast on our Soundcloud
January 2021: Vivaldi's Four Seasons
Program annotator Jennifer More discusses Vivaldi's Four Seasons in preparation for the performance on Sunday, January 24, 2021, featuring the Music of the Baroque Orchestra and concertmaster Gina DiBello. CW: flashing lights, noise (2:25-28)
Listen to the broadcast on our Soundcloud
October 16, 2020 7:00 PM: Mozart's Requiem
Music Director Jane Glover introduces Mozart's Requiem, filmed at the start of the 2018-19 season.
June 16, 2021 8:00 PM: Musica Sacra-Bach & Purcell
May 19, 2021 8:00 PM: Plus Fours! Handel, Telemann, Locatelli, Vivaldi
May 5, 2021 8:00 PM: Bach's Brandenburg Concertos
April 7, 2021 8:00 PM: Inon Barnatan Plays Mozart
March 10, 2021 8:00 PM: Double Trouble—Bach, Vivaldi & More
February 3, 2021 8:00 PM: Vivaldi's Four Seasons
October 14, 2020 8:00 PM: Telemann's Day of Judgment
October 7, 2020 8:00 PM: War and Peace
September 30, 2020 8:00 PM: Pulpit & Playhouse
September 23, 2020 8:00 PM: The Family Bach
September 16, 2020 8:00 PM: The Grand Tour with Carl Grapentine
September 9, 2020 8:00 PM: Mendelssohn's Elijah
September 2, 2020 8:00 PM: Imogen Cooper Plays Mozart
August 26, 2020 8:00 PM: Monteverdi's Vespers
August 19, 2020 8:00 PM: Handel and the Royals
From virtual gala "Baroque Beautiful," to our special "A Baroque Thanksgiving" concert, to performances by the MOB Chorus and Brass Ensemble, here's where you can find all our special events produced in the 2020-21 season.
May 2021: "What is Continuo?" - An MOB virtual soirée featuring Nicholas Kraemer
Principal Guest Conductor Nicholas Kraemer explains the important role of the continuo group in Baroque music, including how the foundational unit of harpsichord, theorbo, and cello support and drive the ensemble in Baroque performance. Members of the MOB orchestra, directed by Nicholas, perform excerpts from Baroque works by Handel and Bach in this illustrated talk.
The MOB Chorus sings the Te Deum
The MOB Brass Ensemble presents Gabrieli's Canzona septimi toni à 8
November 29, 2020 7:30 PM: A Baroque Thanksgiving
An hour-long virtual concert featuring solo and chamber performances by members of our ensemble, including Gina DiBello in an unaccompanied sonata by Bach and Katelyn Lee, Barbara Butler, and Stephen Alltop in Handel's "Let the bright Seraphim" from the oratorio Samson. Executive Director Declan McGovern provides colorful commentary from surprise locations in downtown Chicago. For program information and performer bios, visit baroque.org/thanksgivingprogram.
October 23, 2020 7:00 PM: Baroque Beautiful—An At-Home Gala
Enjoy a special live music event featuring members of our chorus, orchestra, and soloists, a special welcome from Music Director Jane Glover and Principal Guest Conductor Nicholas Kraemer, a performance by Baroque pianist Angela Hewitt--and a few other surprises.
October 9, 2020 7:00 PM: Handel's Coronation Anthems
Music Director Jane Glover introduces Handel’s Coronation Anthems Nos. 1, 4, and 3, filmed at the start of the 2018-19 season.
Hear from Music Director Jane Glover and Principal Guest Conductor Nicholas Kraemer as they go in-depth about Baroque music in our video interview series.
July 23, 2021: Sir Simon Rattle in Conversation with Nicholas Kraemer (Part III)
In the third and final episode of these conversations between Sir Simon Rattle and his good friend Nicholas Kraemer, Sir Simon discusses a particularly memorable performance of Bach’s St. Matthew Passion with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra and his wife, Czech mezzo-soprano Magdalena Kožená. Nicholas talks about his audition piece for MOB twenty years ago: Handel’s Dixit Dominus, a work he has performed with the ensemble three times since as principal guest conductor. A memorable family trip to Venezuela rounds off the program and the series.
July 16, 2021: Sir Simon Rattle in Conversation with Nicholas Kraemer (Part II)
In the second of three installments, Principal Guest Conductor Nicholas Kraemer and Sir Simon Rattle discuss the influence of period instruments and styles on Baroque performances using modern instruments. Plus, the day that famous Austrian conductor Herbert von Karajan slammed the phone down on Maestro Rattle!
July 9, 2021: Sir Simon Rattle in Conversation with Nicholas Kraemer (Part I)
In the first of three installments, Principal Guest Conductor Nicholas Kraemer chats with his old friend Sir Simon Rattle about how they met, their Baroque idols, and more.
December 11, 2020 7:00 PM: Handel: Composer & Businessman (Part II)
Jane Glover, author of Handel in London, talks to Declan McGovern about George Frideric Handel, the German composer who made London his home, befriending royalty, and excelling as an impresario and businessman and the most outstanding composer of his day. In Part II, Glover discusses Handel's opera and oratorio composition, his business dealings, and his life and legacy.
December 4, 2020 7:00 PM: Handel: Composer & Businessman (Part I)
Jane Glover, author of Handel in London, talks to Declan McGovern about George Frideric Handel, the German composer who made London his home, befriending royalty, and excelling as an impresario and businessman and the most outstanding composer of his day. In Part I, Glover discusses Handel's early years, the source of his business acumen, his time in Italy, and the impetus behind his move to London.
SEPTEMBER 25, 2020 7:00 PM: Jane Glover on Bach's Mass in B Minor (new recording release)
Music Director Jane Glover previews the first in a series of four new recordings of the great choral works by JS Bach: his monumental Mass in B Minor, recorded at the start of the 2019-20 season, now available for purchase. Digital download coming soon!
SEPTEMBER 18, 2020 7:00 PM: A conversation with John Eliot Gardiner and Jane Glover Pt 3/3
The final installment of a three-part interview with Music Director Jane Glover, esteemed conductor and Bach scholar John Eliot Gardiner, and radio personality Carl Grapentine. Topics under discussion this week include why Bach didn't compose operas, why each wrote their respective book, and the surprises about Bach and Handel they uncovered along the way.
SEPTEMBER 11, 2020 7:00 PM: A conversation with John Eliot Gardiner and Jane Glover Pt 2/3
Enjoy the second installment of a three-part interview with Music Director Jane Glover, esteemed conductor and Bach scholar John Eliot Gardiner, and radio personality Carl Grapentine. Topics under discussion this week include their favorite works by Bach and Handel, unique insights into the composers' personalities, and much more.
SEPTEMBER 4, 2020 7:00 PM: A conversation with John Eliot Gardiner and Jane Glover Pt 1/3
Carl Grapentine interviews the internationally renowned Baroque specialist John Eliot Gardiner about his book on Bach (Music in the Castle of Heaven), and Music Director Jane Glover about her book on Handel (Handel in London).
AUGUST 28, 2020 7:00 PM: A conversation with Nicholas Kraemer Pt 2/2
Enjoy the final installment of a two-part interview with Principal Guest Conductor Nicholas Kraemer. This week, learn how Chicago musicians differ from their London colleagues, what makes Nicholas's approach to Messiah and the Brandenburg Concertos special, and what he misses about Chicago.
AUGUST 21, 2020: A conversation with Nicholas Kraemer Pt 1/2
MOB’s Principal Guest Conductor Nicholas Kraemer, in conversation with Executive Director Declan McGovern about his career in music. Music excerpts include MOB performances of Bach’s St. John Passion, Brandenburg Concerto No. 5, and Handel’s Dixit Dominus.