Among the most cherished treasures of the collection are the Italian viols from the late 16th to the 18th Centuries: a veritable joy for eyes and, above all, ears! If one realises how few of these viols have survived to this day and, what is more concerning (since the vast majority of them are firmly locked up in cases and basements of the world’s musical instrument museums, or, shall we say, “mausoleums”), how few of these precious instruments are available to professional musicians and to audiences today, then the presence of this set of Italian viols on stage today can be considered something quite extraordinary, in fact, a miracle.
The members of the Orpheon Consort are profoundly conscious of the singular privilege of being able to work with these instruments; our audiences are also conscious of the fact that they are partaking in a wonderful and rare experience, not to be encountered elsewhere.