Israeli a cappella group debuts in Montreal

Israel’s I Profeti della Quinta features, from left, David Feldman, Dino Lüthy, Doron Schleifer, Elam Rotem and Dan Dunkelblum. [Susanna Drescher photo]

MONTREAL — I Profeti della Quinta, an Israeli vocal ensemble interpreting Renaissance and early Baroque music, will make its Canadian debut in Montreal next month.

The quintet will perform at the Festival de Musique de Lachine on July 11 at the Salle de Spectacle de l’Entrepot, 2901 St. Joseph Blvd., Lachine at 8 p.m.

This all-male a capella ensemble has a repertoire from the 16th and early 17th century that it performs in an innovative manner. It researches and performs hitherto neglected works such as Emilio de’Cavalieri’s Lamentations (1600) and Salomone Rossi’s Hashirim asher li’Shlomo (1623).

They recorded the first polyphony (the singing of two or more simultaneous lines of melody) in Hebrew to critical acclaim on the Swiss label Pan Classics.

Their quest to rediscover the music of the Italian-Jewish composer Salomone Rossi became the subject of a 45-minute documentary entitled The Search for Salomone Rossi, l’Ebreo by Joseph Rochlitz. The film will be shown at 6:45 p.m. immediately before the July 11 concert.

Admission to both the screening and concert, made possible with support from the Embassy of Israel, is free.

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I Profeti della Quinta tours regularly in Europe, at such festivals as the Biennale alter Musik Berlin.

Besides Canada, the ensemble is performing in France, Sweden and Japan this season. It’s now based in Basel, Switzerland.

The ensemble was founded in the Galil region by bass and harpsichordist Elam Rotem less than a decade ago. The other core members are Doron Schleifer, David Feldman (cantos), Dino Lüthy and Dan Dunkelblum (tenors).

Richard Turp, director of the Lachine festival, calls I Profeti della Quinta “one of the most musically inspiring and accomplished ensembles I’ve heard in a long while. It’s simply thrilling to be able to welcome them.”

For more information, visit www.concertslachine.ca, or phone 514-571-0012.

The CJN print edition returns August 1.