Pluhar goes troppo! L’Arpeggiata’s South American holiday.For Los párajos perdidos: the South American Project, lutenist, harpist and director of early music band L’Arpeggiata Pluhar takes as her starting point two ideas: that unlike their modern European equivalents, Latin American plucked instruments differ little from their common Baroque ancestors; and that South American dances and songs still exhibit rhythmic and harmonic structures that would have been recognisable to a Baroque musician.
Pluhar thus combines a period ensemble of lutes, harps, guitars, cornett, double bass and percussion with a smaller group comprising instruments still played in Latin America such as the cuatro, charango, arpa llaneraand maracas. Her vocalists include classical singers Philippe Jaroussky, Luciana Mancini and Raquel Andueza, as well as Italian folk singer and researcher Lucilla Galeazzi and the extraordinary singer and ballet dancer Vincenzo Capezzuto.
Despite their different performing traditions, all show the same remarkable ability to really loosen up and go with the often sensual, sometimes totally wild rhythms in these traditional and contemporaryzambas, golpes, polcas, joropos and boleros from Latin America.
Yes, there’s very little “early music” as such – though there is an arrangement of Soler’s famous Fandago that will really knock your socks off. What you do get is some of the most gorgeous singing you’re likely to hear this year offset by a total riot of instrumental colour. ¡Estupendo!
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Unfortunately the concert scheduled on 14th October has been cancelled.
AmorromA, Zondag+concert
click to view the orginal article Het duo AmorromA brengt een intiem programma met fluit (blokfluiten en whistles) en harp (arpa doppia, barokharp met twee of drie rijen snaren, in het Engels 'triple harp' genoemd). Sarah en Jowan zullen stukken spelen van de grote Duitse meesters uit de barokperiode alsook een brug slaan naar de meer West-Europese traditionele muziek. Het is grappig om te horen hoe groot het verschil is tussen een 'bourrée' bij JS Bach en een bourrée uit Centraal-Frankrijk, of een gavotte bij G. Fr. Händel en een gavotte zoals die nu nog in Bretagne voorkomt. Hun eigen composities zijn steeds sterk geïnspireerd door die tradities maar door hun instrumentarium en interpretatie zal er vaak op die brug waarvan sprake gebalanceerd worden. Wat primeert is het speel- en luisterplezier. Een intiem concert voor de echte muziekliefhebber die houdt van pure klanken ! Met: Jowan Merckx (Capilla Flamenca, Zefira torna, E. Van Nevel, Ialma, Wannes Vande Velde, Laïs, Carlos Nunez, Helen Flaherty). Sarah L. Ridy, algemeen bekend als één van Europa's beste harpisten komt voor dit concert speciaal uit Engeland. Reviews of Scherzi Musicali's concerts from the recent tour of Belgium and the Netherlands5/31/2012 click here to read review online at Forum Opera
11/05 : AIMEZ-VOUS MAZZOCCHI ? Nicolas Achten © DR Il ya bien sûr du ménestrel et de l'homme orchestre chez Nicolas Achten ; encore faut-il le voir à l'œuvre pour prendre vraiment la mesure de ses dons. Le baryton, qui joue aussi de la harpe mais cède en l'occurrence la place à l'excellente Sarah Ridy , s'accompagne au luth dans un lamento de Stefano Landi avant de toucher le virginal pour une toccata de Rossi, puis de joindre sa voix à celles des chantres de l'ensemble Scherzi Musicali pour exalter l'altière beauté de Domenico Mazzocchi. Actualité oblige, le compositeur romain se trouve au coeur d'une tournée qui emmène ces amoureux du Seicento sur les routes de Flandre et des Pays-Bas, avec un détour par Bruxelles, samedi dernier, et, n'en doutons pas, une apothéose dans le Loiret le 20 mai prochain (Amilly). Après avoir gravé l'Euridice de Caccini, inédite en CD, des motets de Sances et d'autres de Fiocco, Scherzi Musicali a signé chez Alpha qui vient de publier en première mondiale l'enregistrement deLa Catena d'Adone. René Jacobs avait programmé cet ouvrage, considéré comme le premier opéra romain, au festival d'Innsbruck en 1999. Une mise en scène est-elle pour autant indispensable, comme l'évoquait récemment Maximilien Hondermarck , afin de stimuler l'œil et, à travers lui, l'esprit ? Dans les fragments proposés, comme d'ailleurs dans les extraits des Musiche sacre e morali(1640), Nicolas Achten et Reinoud Van Mechelen , splendide ténor haute-contre, démontrent que le verbe n'a nul besoin d'image ni de geste pour s'incarner quand les artistes en sont pénétrés. En revanche, ces derniers ont peut-être besoin des circonstances du live, de sa prise de risques, de la présence du public pour être touchés par cette grâce fugitive qui tend à disparaître devant les micros... Sans être aussi extravagant ni radical que Gesualdo ou Michelangelo Rossi, Mazzocchi illustre, à sa manière, l'audace qui saisit dans les premières décennies du dix-septième siècle les aventuriers du « je » poétique et dramatique, affranchis de l'abstraction polyphonique. Il va sans dire qu'il mériterait largement de quitter l'ombre imposante de Carissimi. Domenico Mazzocchi (à ne pas confondre avec son cadet, Virgilio, co-auteur de l'opéra bouffe L'Egisto remonté par Jérôme Corréas la saison dernière) développe un langage harmonique très personnel, affectionne les chromatismes et explore la microtonalité pour mieux épouser la diversité des affects que le soprano charnu, mais aussi éclatant deMarie de Roy , plutôt inhabituel dans ce répertoire, peine quelquefois à restituer ( « Lagrime amare »). Dans ces pages exigeantes, Jill Feldman et Maria-Cristina Kiehr demeurent inégalées. Les partitions du Romain présentent également des indications de tempo et de nuances dynamiques, une pratique inhabituelle à l'époque et qui nous montre que le compositeur se faisait une idée très précise de la manière dont sa musique doit être interprétée.Nicolas Achten également, qui excelle en particulier dans le pathétique (« Padre del Ciel ») et se révéle plus sensible, plus habité que ses partenaires. La richesse des accents, le choix des ornements trahissent un raffinement de tous les instants, parfois presque maniériste que peu de chanteurs possèdent à un tel degré. C'est une personnalité avec laquelle il va falloir compter et qui n'a pas fini de nous surprendre ! [BS] Lagrime amare, Scherzi Musicali. Marie de Roy, soprano ; Reinoud Van Mechelen, ténor ; Nicolas Achten, baryton, théorbe, virginal ; Eriko Semba, viole de gambe ; Sarah Ridy, harpe triple. Eglise des Minimes, Bruxelles, 5 mai 2012 click here to read review online "Lagrime Amare" Scherzi Musicali/Nicolas Achten concert: May 10, 2012, Utrecht, Vredenburg Leeuwenbergh Johann Hieronymus KAPSBERGER (1580-1651): Toccata prima; Stefano LANDI (1590-1639): Superbi colli e voi; Domenico MAZZOCCHI (1592-1665): Dunque ove tù Signor (Compuntione nel veder Gierusalemme, o rammentarsi la morte di Christo); Fortunato su'l volto; La catena d'Adone, opera in a prologue and 5 acts (exc); Lagrime Amare (La Madalena ricorre alle lagrime); Non ha più loco; Padre del Ciel (In tribulatione positi verba sunt ista); Piangete, occhi, piangete (Dovemo piangere la Passione di N.S.); Vide nel mezzo dell ombrosa notte (Per il santissimo natale); Luigi ROSSI (1597-1653): Passacaglia; Michelangelo ROSSI (1601-1656): Toccata VII Marie De Roy, soprano; Reinoud Van Mechelen, tenor; Nicolas Achten, baritone, theorbo, keyboard; Eriko Semba, viola da gamba, lirone; Sarah Ridy, triple harp Love and lament - those are two of the most frequent subjects of baroque music in general and of Italian 17th-century music in particular. They look like opposites, but in fact they are strongly connected. In many compositions tears are the result of intense love, and especially if the relationship goes sour. Another feature is the parallellism of love and lament in secular and sacred music. In the latter it is especially the passion of Jesus which has made composers to write laments. In Italy, where the veneration of Mary was especially strong under the influence of Counter Reformation, the laments of Jesus' mother about the passion and death of her son were inspiring many composers to write some of their best music. Love and lament were the subjects of the programme which the Belgian ensemble Scherzi Musicali performed in a series of concerts in the Netherlands and Belgium, under the appropriate title Lagrime Amare, "bitter tears". It was composed around the figure of Domenico Mazzocchi, a lesser-known composer of the early 17th-century. He was a contemporary of Francesco Cavalli which means that he belongs to the generation after Monteverdi. This is reflected in his music: the strict adherence to the supremacy of the text makes way to a stronger interest in melody. In his work we find the first rudiments of what was to become the aria. The first part of the programme was devoted to secular music. We heard large extracts from Mazzocchi's opera La catena d'Adone which Scherzi Musicali has recorded recently for the Alpha label. I hope to review that recording in due course on this site. The extracts were such that I am looking forward to hearing that opera. It became crystal clear that Mazzocchi knows how to tell a story in music, and that the interpreters know how to perform it. Marie De Roy, Reinoud Van Mechelen and Nicolas Achten gave a fine performance, which reflected the ideal of Mazzocchi's time, known as recitar cantando, 'speechlike singing'. Also impressive was the addition of a wide range of ornaments. In addition to his opera we heard two solo pieces by Mazzocchi, Superbi colli e voi, a piece in monodic style by Stefano Landi, and the famous Toccata VII by Michelangelo Rossi. Here he shows the same sense of experiment as other composers in their vocal or ensemble music. This toccata is especially remarkable for the sequences of heavy dissonants, which are the result of Rossi exploring the expressive qualities of mean-tone temperament to the full. Nicolas Achten played it excellently. The second part of the programme was devoted to pieces of a sacred nature. These were all written on Italian texts, which is an indication that they were not intended for liturgical use, but rather for social gatherings of the aristocracy. Vide nel mezzo dell ombrosa notte refers to Christmas. It is a dialogue in which the day complaints about the night being the time that the light of Christ's birth appears. Padre del Ciel is a prayer to God, and the last three pieces were all related to the Passion of Christ. The intensity of the affetti in this repertoire was perfectly expressed, not only by the three singers, but also through the contributions of the instrumentalists. The lirone is invaluable in this kind of repertoire; it was beautifully played by Eriko Semba. Sarah Ridy delivered a penetrating and improvisatorial performance of Kapsberger's Toccata prima. This ensemble which was founded in 2006 has received much praise for its performances. It was the first time I have heard it live, and my positive impressions from a concert I heard on Belgian radio were fully confirmed. The ensemble's director, Nicolas Achten, is a remarkable artist, as he not only sings, but also plays the theorbo and the keyboard, and often accompanies himself. He does so very well, and he sings and plays with the same amount of passion and intensity. He has brought together a fine group of musicians who delivered a most memorable concert. I hope they will return soon. Johan van Veen (© 2012) Philippe Jaroussky: Wigmore Hall, 23rd April 2011 Sunday, 24 April 2011 17:59
Click here to read on Opera Britannica ...There was the same easy atmosphere of singer and band comfortable in each other’s presence. Christina Pluhar, in an absorbing programme note, discusses the importance of ostinato bass lines, artistic freedom and improvisation in interpretation. This is a far cry from the astringent straitjacket of the ‘historically-informed’ period instrument movement of some thirty years ago and I can imagine a few raised eyebrows at the results here, for many of those walking bass lines took on a distinctly jazzy gait, while many of the instrumental numbers allowed individual players to improvise solos. How much of this was really improvised only the musicians themselves will know, but they sounded slickly rehearsed, whilst retaining a sense of fun and exploration. Unlike Lettere amorose, the programme of which was largely a reprisal of the CD, Teatro d’amore went beyond the disc, which was solely Monteverdi, to explore other composers of the period in a sequence of vocal and instrumental numbers. Indeed, only two items from the disc appeared in this recital, while two items also featured in Kozena’s performance: Barbara Strozzi’s L’Eraclito amoroso and Monteverdi’s Si dolce è ’l tormento, providing opportunities for direct comparisons. Despite the improvisatory nature of much of the music-making, Jaroussky’s performance was the model of poise and control. His is the most vocally pure counter-tenor voice before the public today, lyrical and quite feminine in tone, without any hint of a hoot. Long-breathed florid phrases seem to flow naturally from him, his characterization quite often understated; this in direct contrast to Kozena’s sometimes effortful vocal production, yet her singing is frequently more involving, conveying the text more meaningfully. It didn’t help that he relied on a small, bound book for the texts (and score?), while Kozena went without. Jaroussky’s coloratura is infinitely stronger, however, and the confident way in which he tossed off such vocal pyrotechnics was stunning, especially in Giovanni Felice Sances’ Presso l’onde tranquillo. At his most moving in Arnalta’s ‘Oblivion soave’ from L’Incoronazione di Poppea, Jaroussky caressed the long phrases with simple, unaffected tone. Another Monteverdi piece, Ohimé ch’io cado – a Jaroussky speciality – found his performance somewhat restrained, leading me to predict it would be reprised more extrovertly as an encore. I was proved correct, Jaroussky sparring with cornett player Doron Sherwin, who brazenly interpolated the Rondo à la turca, the Sabre Dance and the theme from Mission Impossible in his interjections to bring the House down! Sherwin’s playing was one of the highlights of the evening, partly through marvelling at how eloquent a sound can be produced from what looks such a primitive instrument. As we were between Good Friday and Easter, Sances’ Stabat Mater and Monteverdi’s Laudate Dominum were appropriate choices to end the evening, the setting of Psalm 150 allowing the players of L’Arpeggiata a final opportunity to shine as the invitation to praise the Lord on a variety of instruments was eagerly seized, particularly by Elisabeth Seitz on psaltery. The instrumental interludes were deliciously performed, led from the theorbo by Christina Pluhar, from the opening Toccata to Maurizio Cazzati’s Ciaccona, with cool pizzicato double bass solo from Boris Schmidt. A traditional Neopolitan tarantella recalled a favourite L’Arpeggiata album, replete with virtuosic castanets courtesy of David Mayoral, whose excellent playing also contributed to Private Musicke’s performance in Kozena’s recital. Each piece allowed the players the chance to shine, taking turns to step forward into the spotlight, adding to the feel that we were listening in on a jam session. Soler’s Fandango, initially dominated by Sarah Ridy’s harp, gained a distinctly Moorish flavour with drums featuring heavily. Veronika Skuplik’s violin solo in Kapsberger’s L’Arpeggiata was another delight. One or two of the segues didn’t work especially well, the crashing percussion to the start of Damigella, tutta bella rather ruining the resigned mood created in Si dolce è ’l tormento, but this was a minor quibble. The adoring audience was clearly delighted, caught under Jaroussky’s spell, earning a Piazzolla encore along with the Monteverdi reprise. All in all, this was a wonderful evening’s entertainment. Mark Pullinger Opera Britannia Please note the updated time. Instead of 20:30 as previously stated on the concerts page, the concert will begin at 20:15!
The new CD "Carrousel" from Amor Roma is available now, a triple CD box set, featuring Sarah Ridy on triple harp; Jowan Merckx on whistles, recorders, flugelhorn, bagpipes, percussion, vocals, carillon and shawm; Elly Aerden, vocals; Vincent Noiret, double bass; Toon van Mierlo, accordion, pipes and clarinet; Maarten Decombel, mondola, bouzouki, guitar; Luc Pilartz, violin; Tristan Driessens, oud; Gregory Jolivet, hurdy-gurdy; Emanuela Lodato, tamburo and tamburello; Jurgen de Bruyn, archlute; Philippe Laloy, bass flute and Gwen Cresens, bandoneon. The first eight of these musicians can be seen performing for the first time together on 1st and 2nd April at de Wildeman in Herent, at the official launch of the CD.
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