Chestnut Hill maestro Donald Meineke will conduct Choral Arts Philadelphia on a musical tour of the “Cathedrals of Mexico: Grand Polyphony of Puebla and Mexico City.” The concert is scheduled for Saturday, March 15, at 4 p.m. in the Episcopal Church of the Holy Trinity, Rittenhouse Square, in Center City.

 The exquisite Roman Catholic cathedrals of Puebla and Mexico City boasted sacred choral music establishments of choirs and orchestras that rivaled the cathedrals found in the major cities of Europe. Many of their resident musicians were of either Spanish or Portuguese birth who had taken up posts in the New World colonies of the Spanish Empire, most notably in Mexico.

 In the generations that followed, native born composers took up their mantle and wrote works of the highest craft and inspiration, incorporating both the European discipline of polyphony with the rhythmic nuances and tonal colors of their native lands.

 This concert’s program will feature some of the finest sacred works composed in Mexico during the High Renaissance in the 16th century including scores composed by Gaspar Fernandes, Hernando Franco, Antonio de Salazar, Francisco Lopez Capillas and Juan Gutierrez de Padilla.

 For ticket information visit choralartsphila.org.

 Variant 6 ‘Re/Creates’

 Variant 6 will join the Sylvan Consort of Viols March 14-16 for “Re/Create,” a concert of music by William Byrd, Orlando di Lasso, William Lawes and a world premiere by Kile Smith.

 Explained soprano Rebecca Myers of Variant 6, “The combination of voices and viols in the music of the Renaissance is one that feels incredibly natural. The unique timbres of the viola da gamba and voice showcase a variety of colors and expressive palettes.”

 The concert will be March 14 at 8 p.m., in the Fleisher Art Memorial; March 15, at 3 p.m., in the First & Central Presbyterian Church in Wilmington; and March 16, at 2 p.m., in the Levering Mill Tribute House in Bryn Mawr. Visit variantsix.music@gmail.com.

 Curtis Opera Triumphs

 The Curtis Institute of Music continued the celebration of the centennial of its founding with a superb production of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s sublime comic opera, “Le nozze di Figaro” (“The Marriage of Figaro”). The mounting played the Kimmel Center’s Perelman Theater Feb. 27 through March 2. All four performances were sell-outs, translating into more than 2,000 local opera lovers having taken in a virtually flawless interpretation of a virtually flawless opera.

 Mozart composed “Figaro” in 1786, based on a libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte, which itself was based on a play by Pierre Beaumarchais. It received its premiere in Vienna and has held its place in the operatic repertoire as one of the greatest operas ever composed.

 When the Curtis Opera Theatre decided to mount a fully-staged production, it went for the full monty. To conduct the performances it brought in Nicholas McGegan, one of the world’s leading interpreters of the classical repertoire. To stage direct the production, it brought it Marcus Shields, again one of the world’s cutting-edge directors. Together they produced a “Figaro” that could have successfully stood in comparison with those given anywhere in the world by any company in the world.  

 McGegan elicited playing from the young members of the Curtis Symphony Orchestra that was supple yet powerful, colorful yet supportive, rhythmically vibrant yet effortless lyrical. Shields oversaw an exemplary “macro” and “micro” rendering of Da Ponte’s peerless libretto. The overall stage action of the large cast flowed seamlessly while the acting of the individual singers was supremely comic without a hint of mugging so that the humor was both potent and real.

 Soprano Emily Damasco portrayed the wronged Countess Rosina with a poignant characterization and one of the most beautifully and effortlessly projected vocal interpretations I’ve ever encountered. The “cover” over her voice was consistently transparent and lyrically expressive. She sang all of her arias and ensembles with transcendent tonal beauty and exquisite phrasing.

 Her “other half” – Count Almaviva – was given a powerfully malevolent reading by baritone Emilio Vasquez. To paraphrase George Bernard Shaw, he oozed charm from every pour as he oiled his way across the floor in his clumsy attempts to seduce Susanna on the very eve of her wedding to her fellow servant, Figaro. He also sang beautifully.

 Baritone Robert Frazier was a delightfully wily Figaro – never at a loss for words or the notes through which to convey them. Soprano Juliette Tacchino was a spicy Susanna, never intimidated by her feudal lord even when her back was up against the wall. She sang her arias with bracing timbral clarity. Her duets with Damasco were particularly expert.

 The Curtis Opera Theatre will return to the boards of the Forrest Theater, 1114 Street in Center City Philadelphia, with Leonard Bernstein’s “Candide,” Friday, April 11, at 7 p.m., and Sunday, April 13, at 2 p.m. For ticket information visit curtis.edu/candide. 

You can contact NOTEWORTHY at Michael-caruso@comcast.net.