Program
Henry Purcell (1659–1695)
15 Fantasies for viola da gamba
O, Solitude; Music for a While for voice and lute
John Dowland (1563–1626)
Flow, My Tears for voice and lute
Performed by artists of the musicAeterna Orchestra and guest soloists:
Natalia Smirnova – soprano
Marina Belova – lute
Margarita Galkina — Baroque flute
Andrey Matyukhin — oboe d’amour
Talgat Sarsembayev — Baroque bassoon
Vladislav Pesin, Elena Rais, Maria Stratonovich, Ivan Subbotkin, Dmitry Chepiga, Artyom Savchenko, Robert Brehm, Kristina Takha, Ekaterina Romanova, Armen Poghosyan — violins
Grigory Chekmaryov, Dinara Muratova, Andrey Serdyukovsky, Marina Antonova, Anastasia Rybina – violas
Alexander Prozorov, Maksim Akchurin – cellos
Dilyaver Menametov – violone
Nikita Makin – double bass
Details
Since its birth, that is, for twenty years now, the musicAeterna Orchestra has been performing Baroque music in keeping with the historically informed approach. In recent years, the mastering of the chamber repertoire of the 17th-18th centuries has turned into a special direction, a kind of Baroque ensemble within the orchestra — musicAeterna Baroque. It is led by Vladislav Pesin, one of the orchestra’s concertmasters. The idea for the programme, which opens a cycle of early music concerts at Dom Radio located at Nevsky 62, was suggested by the curator of the Dom Radio concert direction, Vangelino Currentzis. This time, the musicians focus on the works of Henry Purcell, the major composer of Baroque England. However, they choose not-so-obvious masterpieces of the British Orpheus and a non-trivial way to present them on stage.
musicAeterna Baroque, as was customary in Purcell’s time, has decided to perform this music using the instruments available to them — Baroque string instruments from the violin family and Baroque woodwinds. The staging of the concert might evoke the domestic musical gatherings of Baroque England: different ensembles will play Fantasies as if to one another, rather than ‘for the public,’ sitting in a circle. It is only at the beginning and end of the programme that they will merge into a single chorus. The singer will be in the centre of the circle. Soprano Natalia Smirnova, the star of the Diaghilev Festival 2024 who appeared as Eurydice in the production of the opera Passion by modern French composer Pascal Dusapin, will perform several famous songs by Henry Purcell together with lutenist Marina Belova.