Les Barocudas / Marie Nadeau Tremblay LA PESTE

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LA PESTE

 

Pluto-Ensemble / Marnix De Cat / Hathor Consort / Romina Lischka ANIMAM GEMENTEM CANO

ANIMAM GEMENTEM CANO

 

Damien Guillon / Café Zimmermann LAMENTO

LAMENTO

Les Passions de l'Ame / Meret Lüthi DIVINA

DIVINA

Lina Tur Bonet / Musica Alchemica LA BELLEZZA

LA BELLEZZA

Les Passions de l’Ame / Meret Lüthi VARIETY

THE ART OF VARIATION

Ricercar Consort, Sophie Gent, Maude Gratton Philippe Pierlot BIBER Imitatio

IMITATIO

Accentus Austria COMMEDIA DELL'AUSTRIA

This internationally renowned early music group specializes in the powerfully gripping music of the Sephardic romances passed on by an oral tradition, as well as the court and sacred music of the early sixteenth century (Juan del Encina, Juan de Anchieta, Antonio de Cabezón, etc.) and the more complex polyphony belonging to the later part of that same period. The Accentus Ensemble itself was founded in Vienna in 1988. The total group has 13 members who appear in different combinations depending on the demands of the particular compositions and there are also guest artists who are asked to assist in certain performances that draw upon their special skills. The various members of the Accentus Ensemble are especially adept at the improvisational elements native to the performance practice of the early music of Spain. The group has appeared at early music festivals throughout Europe, at the important Semana de Musica Antigua in Seville, and in Israel.

Girandole Armoniche EXTRAVAGANTES SEICENTO

The focus of Extravagantes Seicento is the musical exuberance of a century full of contradictions, and at the same time receptive towards all kinds of novelty. By means of a rich collection of instrumental sonatas for violin, viola da gamba and harpsichord, the recording portrays the peregrine world of composers and instrumentalists who travelled throughout Europe in their search for receptive cultural circles and the degree of financial stability required for the creation of new works. In particular the Habsburg courts of Vienna and Innsbruck attracted artists from Italy and central Europe, becoming hubs for innovation in the visual arts, the theatre and instrumental music.

Under the imperial protection of Ferdinand III, Leopold I and Archduke Ferdinand Karl of Austria, the great violinists of the 17th century Ignazio Albertini, Giovanni Padonolfi Mealli, Samuel Capricornus, Heinrich Schmelzer and Ignaz Biber expanded the technical potential of the violin and the viola da gamba, producing a repertoire of highly melodious sonatas featuring virtuoso brilliance and such eccentricity of sound as to surprise or even disconcert audiences, both then and today.

Meret Lüthi / Les Passions de l’Ame SCHABERNACK - A Treasure Trove of Musical Jokes

Swiss violinist Meret Lüthi is artistic director and concertmaster of the baroque orchestra «Les Passions de l’Ame», which she co-founded in 2008. She was a guest musician with the Freiburger Barockorchester and has worked as a concertmaster in the Belgian ensemble «B’Rock». She has also taught at the Royal Conservatoire Antwerp. She has participated in CD recordings, opera productions, concert tours and radio and television broadcasts with René Jacobs, Ivor Bolton, Adam Fischer and Gary Cooper, among others. In addition, Meret Lüthi is deeply dedicated to chamber music: at the «Young Artists in Concert» festival in Davos, she was featured in a variety of programs; in 2010, she made her debut at the Lucerne Festival. 

Meret Lüthi completed her violin studies at the Bern University of the Arts with distinction, having been taught by Monika Urbaniak-Lisik and Eva Zurbrügg. She studied with Walter Levin as a member of the Amaryllis Quartet, before specializing in baroque violin under the tutelage of Anton Steck at the State Academy of Music in Trossingen, Germany. Her talent was recognized at master classes with Igor Ozim, Christian Altenburger, Thomas Brandis, Ingolf Turban and Gerhard Schulz. Meret Lüthi was awarded scholarships from the Kiefer Halblitzel Foundation and the Kiwanis Club of Bern; in 2007 she was a prizewinner in the German University Competition for Early Music. 

As a specialist in historically-informed performance practice, Meret Lüthi works as an orchestra coach and is regularly invited to share her expertise in radio broadcasts produced by Swiss Radio SRF 2 Kultur. She is a lecturer of baroque violin at the Bern University of the Arts.