Concert Echoes of Polyphony
Corvina Consort Ensemble
Atrium of the Narodni muzej, Belgrade, 8:00 PM
January 31, 2026
The guest appearance of the Corvina Consort as part of this year’s Rosi fest represents a significant program segment dedicated to early vocal and vocal-instrumental music, viewed through the lens of historically informed performance practice and contemporary musicological research. Led by its artistic director Zoltán Kálmánovits, the ensemble has occupied a prominent position on the international early music scene for more than a decade.
The repertoire of Corvina Consort spans five centuries of sacred and secular music, with a particular focus on vocal polyphony of the late Middle Ages, the Renaissance, and the early Baroque. The ensemble’s programs are based on careful analysis of sources, stylistic characteristics, and performance conventions of each period, resulting in interpretations that respect historical context while maintaining contemporary artistic relevance.
The ensemble’s members are distinguished artists who regularly collaborate with leading European and international early music groups, and their work has been documented through numerous radio, television, and discographic recordings. Corvina Consort has performed with notable success at prestigious festivals across Europe and North America, and its releases have received significant international recognition, including awards and nominations that attest to the ensemble’s high artistic and research standards.
A special place in the ensemble’s work is devoted to thematically conceived concert cycles, including projects focused on the oeuvre of Orlando di Lasso, programs exploring cultural and musical identities within the European space, as well as cycles dedicated to the role of Hungarian composers in a broader European context. The ensemble is also an active participant in the international project Choralis Constantinus 500, aimed at reconstructing the liturgical vocal practice of the Habsburg court in the 15th and 16th centuries.
The program that Corvina Consort presents this year at Rosi Fest is centered on representative works of Renaissance and early Baroque sacred music, with particular emphasis on vocal polyphony and its relationship to liturgical text. In this context, performances of works by composers such as Orlando di Lasso, Philippe de Monte, Heinrich Isaac, and Salomone Rossi allow for an exploration of diverse stylistic and confessional traditions within a shared European musical space. Through this approach, the ensemble aligns with the programmatic orientation of Rosi Fest,
connecting artistic excellence, musicological reflection, and international collaboration through carefully selected performers and repertoires, within a broader context of cultural dialogue among traditions. This concert offers an opportunity to encounter an interpretation of early music that is both firmly grounded in research and open to the contemporary concert experience.
Corvina Consort Ensemble
The repertoire of the ensemble comprises of five centuries of church and secular as well as vocal and instrumental music. Its members are artists who regularly perform with other significant early music ensembles at home and abroad. They are the participants of several radio, television, and CD recordings.
Corvina Consort performed with great success many festivals (Austria, Poland, Germany, Italy, Estonia, Finland, Romania, Slovakia, Croatia, Belgium – Festival van Vlaanderen in Antwerp, Canada – Festival des musiques sacrées de Québec etc.)
The Corvina Consort CD’s numerous international critiques and awards appeared (CHOC Awards, Nomination of MIDEM Classical Awards in Choral works Category, the TOP10 CD’s of the Year etc.)
The most outstanding amongst their work are the three thematic concert series which mostly determine their ten-year work.
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Concert-series from the works of Orlando di Lasso
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Faces of Europe
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Hungarians of Europe – cultural anniversaries in music
Ensemble the member of Choralis Constantinus 500 project.
Zoltán Kalmanovits, artistic director of ensemble
Zoltán Kalmanovits completed his higher education at the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music, Budapest. Artistic director of Corvina Consort. Member of the ensemble as singer and viola da gamba player. He sang for some years with many early music ensembles, also appearing as a soloist. Zoltán Kalmanovits can look back upon a rich concert practice in Hungary as well as abroad. This appears from numerous recordings for radio and television, as well CD recordings. As the artistic director of the Corvina Consort he is responsible for the research and preparation of the repertoire. He organized and artistic directed of Choralis Constantinus 500 – vocal liturgical music in the Habsburg imperial court according to 15th and 16th-century practices project , and president of Musica Aeterna Art Foundation.
