CANTO FIORITO International Early Music Ensemble:
Ieva Gaidamavičiūtė (soprano)
Renata Dubinskaitė (mezzo-soprano)
Saulė Šerytė (mezzo-soprano)
Algirdas Bagdonavičius (tenor)
Nerijus Masevičius (bass)
Ieva Baublytė (recorders)
Rodrigo Calveyra (cornet, recorders)
Adrian France (sackbut)
Rodney Prada (viola da gamba)
Davide Pozzi (harpsichord, organ)
An international assembly of early music experts presents a programme designed to mark the 350th death anniversary of Tarquinio Merula, the foremost composer active in the royal court of the Vasa Kings, the rulers of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the 17th century.
Ruled by the Vasa Dynasty, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth enjoyed extraordinary flourishing, which is endorsed by a considerable body of famous musicians from all around Europe serving in the royal and the grand duke’s court of the Vasa Kings. Tarquinio Merula, an Italian composer, organist and violinist, who worked in the court of Sigismund III Vasa in 1621 – 1626, was the most prominent and influential. “Tarquinio Merula was crucial in creation of certain early forms of baroque music, which took their final shape in advanced stage of baroque – cantata, aria, church and chamber sonata, chaconne, symphony”, maintain Simone Manfredini and Eleanor Selfridge-Field, early baroque music authorities. Next to Claudio Monteverdi and Francesco Cavalli, Merula is one of the most celebrated and appreciated 17th century composers today.
Tarquinio Merula was born on November 24, 1595 in Busseto (Italy), died on December 10, 1665 in Cremona (Italy). To mark the anniversaries of the great master, who composed music for the rulers of our country, an international early music ensemble Canto Fiorito offers a programme featuring all church and secular music forms created by Merula – motets, madrigals, arias, sonatas, symphonies, chaconnes, etc. The highlight of the programme – works from opuses No 5 and No 6, which Merula wrote in 1624 in the service of Sigismund III Vasa. The bass voice of the opus No 6 is extinct, however Rodrigo Calveyra, the leader of Canto Fiorito, an expert of the Italian early baroque music currently pursuing Doctoral degree in Paris-Sorbonne University (France), will reconstruct the missing bass voice. Thus, tonight the aforementioned compositions will be performed for the first time in Vilnius after 350 years! Merula’s anniversaries provide an exceptional opportunity to revisit the genial composer and deepen knowledge of his music – the part of our cultural heritage, of which we have good reason to be proud.
Tickets – 5, 9, 12, 15 Eur
Tickets are available at „Bilietai LT“ and Museum's Box Offices and online at www.bilietai.lt (service charges may apply).
The concert is supported by the Italian Culture Institute