B a r o q u e
Due to heightened security measures, the parking garage of the Embassy of France will not be available until further notice.
MONDAY, MARCH 12, 2012 AT 7:30PM
The Library of Congress
Coolidge Auditorium - Thomas Jefferson Building, ground floor
Independence Ave. & 1st St., SE
Admission: Free, but requires tickets - available from Ticketmaster
(There is a small service charge associated with each ticket order and a limit of 2 tickets per person.)
Tickets / more information: http://www.loc.gov/rr/perform/concert/
L’Arpeggiata Ensemble
"There’s an immediacy and freshness here that grabs you right from the first few bars. If you haven’t met [them], then it’s time you did… deliciously entertaining." — BBC Music
This program is presented
in cooperation with:
Presentation
Founded in 2000, L'Arpeggiata is a dynamic French-based ensemble directed by Austrian-born harpist and lutenist Christina Pluhar. Its members — some of the leading European soloists in their field — join forces with exceptional singers from the worlds of baroque and traditional music. The group's particular focus is on French, Italian, and Neapolitan music of the 17th century, and it works with often daring instrumental improvisations, exploiting rich textures created by blending a variety of plucked instruments and a vocal style influenced by traditional music.
L'Arpeggiata tours extensively and its recordings on the Alpha and Naive labels have sold over 200,000 copies. Christina Pluhar describes L’Arpeggiata as "an international cocktail of musicians with lots of character. There is a basic ensemble of regular players and then they are joined by other performers for each project. I choose not to work with the same singers all the time, preferring to give myself the option of looking for voices that seem to me to be perfect for specific repertoire."
Regular appearances at the world’s major festivals — including Lufthansa Festival London, Printemps des arts de Nantes, Théâtre de Bordeaux, Emociana Antigua Madrid, Brugge Musica Antica and Hong Kong Arts Festival — have earned L’Arpeggiata a global following. An extensive recorded catalog is devoted to works by baroque masters such as Monteverdi, Cavalieri and Rossi, while other ventures have paired the ensemble with The King’s Singers and Flamenco guitarist Pepe Habichuela.
This internationally acclaimed ensemble brings a fresh and vibrant interpretation of early musical styles, rewarding audiences with a tour de force of the 17th century that is new and yet familiar, nuanced and yet accessible — an "entertainment at once provocative and intelligent" (The Guardian).
Artist links:
- www.arpeggiata.com
- www.myspace.com/larpeggiatachristinapluhar
- www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_vrBLedI9E
- www.youtube.com/watch?v=45Z3D4c8KWI
Back to top
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 28 AT 7:30PM
at La Maison Française
Admission
- General: $25
- Student w/id.: $20
Tickets: www.instantseats.com
Parking is available on Reservoir Road and across the street at Georgetown University Hospital’s pay lot.
A wine reception to meet the artists will follow the concert.
La Rêveuse Ensemble
Jeffrey Thompson, countertenor
Florence Bolton, bass viol & viol
Bertrand Cuiller, virginal
Benjamin Perrot, theorbo & direction
"Under the direction of Benjamin Perrot, the members of La Rêveuse bring a Gallic elegance to their playing that serves the music beautifully." — The Sunday Times of London
Co-founded by Bejamin Perrot and Florence Bolton, La Rêveuse (the feminine form of "The Dreamer") is a chamber music ensemble composed of soloists whose aim is to revive selected works of the 17th and 18th century — an age sparkling with artistic experimentation and invention. Eloquent in their mastery of color and richness of continuo, the musicians of La Rêveuse share with audiences not only the musical beauty — but also the rhetorical, spiritual and poetic force — of this répertoire.
La Rêveuse has attracted favorable critical attention with its concerts in France — including Les Concerts Parisiens, Folle Journée de Nantes (Brittany), Sable, Pontoise and the Festival Radio-France Montpellier —, and has also appeared abroad in England, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Japan and Cairo (Egypt). The group also regularly accompanies co-productions with Benjamin Lazar's Théâtre de l'Incrédule.
The first two recordings of La Rêveuse were dedicated to English music of the second half of the seventeenth century, including Locke and Purcell. Its two latest CDs (Mirare label) — sonatas by Dietrich Buxtehude and Johann Adam Reinken (2009) and sonatas by Elisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre (2010) — have been widely acclaimed by both French and international reviewers.
Artist links:
- http://ensemblelareveuse.com/
- http://culturebox.france3.fr/ (in French only)
>> March 12, 2012: L’Arpeggiata Ensemble
>> March 28, 2012: La Rêveuse Ensemble
>> Past events
Photo Anne-Marie Berthon
