Ensemble Stravaganza

Stravaganza

2016-2017

Ensemble

Ensemble Stravaganza Artistic Direction : Domitille Gilon & Thomas Soltani

SUMMARY

INSTRUMENTAL PROGRAMS

The rosary sonatasHeinrich Ignaz Franz Biber

Les Concerts RoyauxFrançois Couperin & Elisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre

Concert at the Hapsburg courtHeinrich Ignaz Franz Biber - Johann Jakob FrobergerJohann Heinrich Schmelzer

Arcangelo Corelli, angelo di violinoArcangelo Corelli & Giovanni Reali

Bach and the north German influenceJohann-Sebastian Bach - Dietrich BuxtehudeJohann Adam Reinken

Rameau, six Concerts en sextuorJean-Philippe Rameau

VOCAL PROGRAMS

PRESS

THE ENSEMBLE

THE ARTISTS

CONTACT

Ariadne & OrpheusMichel Lambert - Elisabeth Jacquet de la GuerreJean-Philippe Rameau - Marin Marais

Médée, cruelle fille des enfersMichel De la Barre - Nicolas BernierLouis-Nicolas Clérambault - Jean-Philippe Rameau

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INSTRUMENTAL

LES CONCERTS ROYAUX

New program - Wiener Konzerthaus

François Couperin (1668 - 1733)Elisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre (1665 - 1729)

In his biographical notice on François Couperin (Suite du Parnasse français, Paris, 1743), the French writer Titon du Tillet was the first to mention the fame achieved by the composer of Les Goûts réunis, not only in France, but also in Italy, England and Ger-many. François Couperin was one of the great musical figures at court.

He is, nowadays, very well known for his harpsichord suites and his Concert Royaux. He published five collections be-tween 1722 and 1728. The concert royaux are printed at the end of the third book of harpsichord pieces (Paris, 1722), and con-stitute the earliest set of chamber pieces he published. Couperin reveals the circum-stances in which the pieces were composed and originally performed: ‘’ I produced them for the small chamber concerts to which Louis XIV summoned me almost every Sun-day in the year’’.

This publication received such a great succes that Couperin published two years later ten new concerts, with the addition of a grand trio sonata entitled Le Parnasse, or l’Apothéose de Corelli.

Antoine Torunczyk: OboeGeorges Barthel: Traverso Domitille Gilon: Violin Ronald Martin Alonso: Viola da gambaVincent Fluckiger: Théorbo & Baroque guitarJavier Zafra: BassoonThomas Soltani: Harpsichord

The program

7 musicians


Domitille Gilon, Yoko Kawakubo, Louis Creac’h : ViolinMarta Paramo : ViolaAtsushi Sakai, Marion Matineau : CelloJavier Zaffra : BassoonThomas Soltani : Harpsichord

8 musicians

RAMEAU, SIX CONCERTS EN SEXTUOR

Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683 - 1764)

New Program

The program

Our knowledge of many baroque composer would be immeasurably poorer without the conservationist instincts of par-ticular individuals such as Jacques-Joseph-Marie Decroix. He seems to have regarded it as his life’s mission to amass as much material relating to Rameau as possible, including this unique source of the present transcriptions.

This comprises five part books which, between them, present orchestral arrange-ment of Rameau’s Pièces de Clavecin en en Concerts (1741) and five of his solo harpsi-chord pieces. This is possible that Decroix himself made this transcription. In fact, these arrangements may not always sound quite like Rameau, but they seldom seem unworthy of him.

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INSTRUMENTAL

BACH AND THE NORTH GERMAN INFLUENCE

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 - 1750)Dietrich Buxtehude (1637 – 1707)Johann Adam Reinken (1623 – 1722)

Sonatas for two violins, viola da gambe and continuo

Domitille Gilon, Louis Creac’h: Violins Robin Pharo: Viola da gamba Etienne Galletier: TheorboYvan Garcia: OrganThomas Soltani: Harpsichord

6 musicians

The program

Dietrich Buxtehude and Johann Adam Reinken were two of the most fa-mous musicians in the XVIIth century. They were friends and had a strong influence on Johann - Sebastian Bach. At the age of 20, in 1705, Johann - Sebastian Bach travelled to study with Dietrich Buxtehude, the great-est German musician of the day, to com-plete his training. He left Arnstadt to travel to Lübeck, a journey of more than 400km, which he made on foot. He had only asked for a leave of one month from his church.

He would be absent four months. Upon his return, the parishioners no longer recognized him. He was reproached for

These concerts are made of “character” titles, following the tradition made by François Couperin in the 1710s and 1720s, and are the reflection of the society of the XVIIIth century, from the piece dedicated to the Persian king (La Coulicam), to the other one called La Poule, justly regarded as one of the composer’s finest creations. This virtuoso representation of the clucking and body movements of a farmyard hen retains all its allure here.

He was reproached for playing too long, and above all for disturbing the au-dience with strange modulations. Dietrich Buxtehude’s influence on Johann - Sebas-tian Bach, the greatest musician of all time, had been decisive. Reinken, with his stylus phantasticus, has been also of a major in-fluence on Bach, who made beautiful tran-scriptions of his works. It is a real travel in north Germany that Stravaganza is offering with this fantastic program!

THE ROSARY SONATASHeinrich Ignaz Franz Biber (1644 - 1704)

Domitille Gilon: ViolinRonald Martin Alonso: Viola da gamba & lyronEtienne Galletier: Theorbo & baroque guitarTBD: HarpThomas Soltani : Harpsichord & Organ

4 - 5 musicians

One of the most famous violin corpus in the history of music is probably the Rosa-ry Sonatas, written by Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber. The 15 Mysteries of the Rosary, prac-ticed in the so-called “Rosary processions” since the 13th century, are meditations on important moments in the life of Christ and the Virgin Mary. Each sonata corresponds to one of the fourteen Mysteries and a Pas-sacaglia for solo violin which closes the collection, possibly relating to the Feast of the Guardian Angel which, at the time, was a celebration that took place on different dates near those of the rosary processions in September and October.

The 15 Mysteries are divided into three cycles. The 15 sonatas are organ-ized into the same three cycles: five Joyful Mysteries, five Sorrowful Mysteries and five Glorious Mysteries. In each sonatas, Biber is using the scorda-tura, in order to provides to the instrument

The program


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CD Aparté label record (Released: September 2012)

5 musicians

CONCERT AT THE HAPSBURG COURT

Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber (1644 – 1704)Johann Jakob Froberger (1616 – 1667)Johann Heinrich Schmelzer (1623 – 1680)

Sonatas for violin and continuo

Domitille Gilon: ViolinRonald Martin Alonso: Viola da gambaDamien Pouvreau: TheorboYvan Garcia: OrganThomas Soltani: Harpsichord

“Another bright new baroque group takes the stage… Gilon is an authoritative performer and is very well supported by continuo musicians… En-semble Stravaganza are clearly talented musicians “ Gramophone Magazine, February 2013

Leopold I and Joseph I contributed especially to the boom of musical production, sacred and profane, in seventeenth-century Austria.

The musical profusion at the Court had such an influence throughout Europe that exchanges began to take place between Ger-many and Italy, followed by Spain and France. Vienna with its Court and musicians became a place for constantly renewed expe-riences in musical practice, style, composition and interpretation techniques. Musical aes-thetics were profoundly enriched and diver-sified, incidentally showing the remarkable open-mindedness of the monarch.

The program

unusual sonorities, colors, altered ranges and new harmonies only possible with this new tuning. The violin’s tone color is com-pletely manipulated and is heard as never. It is such a great experience for the listen-ers and the players!

CD Aparté label record (Released: September 2013)

The program

5 musicians

ARCANGELO CORELLI, ANGELO DI VIOLINO

Arcangelo Corelli (1653 – 1713)Giovanni Reali (1681 – 1751)

Sonatas opus 3 & 4 for two violins and continuo

Domitille Gilon, Louis Creac’h: ViolinsGulrim Choi: CelloDamien Pouvreau: Theorbo & Baroque GuitarThomas Soltani: Harpsichord & Organ

Music seems to have enlivened the Hapsburg Court since the fifteenth century. The accession of Ferdinand III to the throne (1637) started a new line of cultivated music-loving emperors, promoting talented musi-cians and prolific composers. As generous sponsors of the arts, they became effective actors of the musical life that punctuated events at the Court. Ferdinand III as well as

The appointment in 1689 of Pietro Ottoboni as Cardinal of San Lorenzo in Damaso marked the beginning of one of the most splendid epochs of patronage of

INSTRUMENTAL

Ensemble Stravaganza Dir. Artistique : Domitille Gilon & Thomas Soltani

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VOCAL

1 soprano and 5 musicians

The program

ARIADNE & ORPHEUS

Michel Lambert (1610 - 1696)Elisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre (1665 - 1729) Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683 - 1764)Marin Marais (1656 - 1728)

Cantatas, Airs de cours, Instrumental works

Hasnaa Bennani : SopranoDomitille Gilon : ViolinAnna Besson : Traverso Ronald Martin alonso : Viola da gamba Vincent Fluckiger : Theorbo, Baroque guitarThomas Soltani : Harpsichord

During the first half of the eighteenth century, the musical scene in Europe was marked by the highpoint of the cantata, draw-ing inspiration from the often tragic destinies of mythological figures from Greek antiquity. A woman abandoned by a man on the one hand, a poet confronting the Underworld in order to save his Eurydice on the other hand: though the dramatic strands of these two myths are in opposition, they nonetheless conjure up human anguish and its affects. This is how wounded love, anger and venge-ance are eloquently dressed with musical ex-pression, both by Jean-Philippe Rameau and Philippe Courbois.

Rameau and Courbois illustrate the pain and passion of these characters, as well as the complex ambivalence between them. Their music presents a range of harmonies and melodies that is rich in colours, the dra-matic expression being ever faithful to the text. Ariadne, the sleeping princess, deeply of-fended, vengeful then once more loved, em-bodies the force of the heroine who is reborn from her ashes. Orpheus, who is offered the chance of regaining his sweet Eurydice held in the underworld, fails, overly amorous as he is to “to make a few more heartfelt efforts!”. The two cantatas and the symbolic force of the myths they illustrate are accompanied by a Sonata by Elisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre, a composer in the service and the affections of King Louis XIV himself! CD Muso label (Released: October 2015)

the arts in Rome. A passionate lover of mu-sic, Ottoboni gave his protection to numer-ous musicians: Handel, Pasquini, Scarlatti and Caldara. A few months after his elec-tion, Ottoboni took into his service the fa-mous violinist Arcangelo Corelli, who was employed not only as first violin and leader for the instrumental music, but had com-plete control also over the sumptuous mu-sical events.

Few years later, when Roger North penned, Corelli’s compositions had become ‘’ to the musitians like the bread of life ‘’. In-deed in England Corelli’s ‘’sonatas cleared the ground of all other sorts of musick what-soever…(and) became the onely musick rel-ished for a long time, and there seems to be no satiety of them, no ris the virtue of them yet exhaled, and it is a question of whether it will ever be spent’’.

INSTRUMENTAL


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MEDEE

Nicolas Bernier (1665 – 1734) Louis – Nicolas Clérambault (1676 – 1749)Jean – Philippe Rameau (1683 – 1764)

Cruelle fille des enfers

In the first half of the XVIIth century, french composers tried a new genre, com-posing cantatas. Nowadays, more than 800 cantatas survived, proof that this style has been one of the most important genre of the baroque period.

The multiple facets of the loving ad-ventures of these mythical persons held at-tention of numerous poets and musicians. The essential aesthetics of the baroque period was to report the widest possible palette of the human passions. So, the op-era and the cantata were the perfect choice to transpose, make relive or illustrate the mostly tragic episodes told by the mythol-ogy as well as the feelings which are con-nected with it.

This program presents the fate of loving, deceived women, abandoned or taken by the despair, and who fight at the same moment against their own passion and against the men who betrayed them. Already fashionable in the baroque period, this theme is more than ever current.The deepest human passions are represented in these cantatas, the composers playing with all the subtleties of the french text, us-ing magnificent colors to highlight the text.

Hasnaa Bennani or Chantal Santon: Soprano Domitille Gilon: Violin Ronald Martin Alonso: Viola da gambaEtienne Galletier: TheorboThomas Soltani: Harpsichord

1 soprano and 4 musicians

The program

VOCAL


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(Fabulous Fringe – Oude Muziek Utrecht), in the United Kingdom, Belgium, Germa-ny (Tage Alter Musik Regensburg), Austria (Wiener Konzerthaus), Poland (Baroque Poznan festival)…

The ensemble has been awarded in 2011 bronze medal of the Academy of Lit-erature and Arts. They also won the third prize and the special prize of critics and medias at the Premio Bonporti compe-tition (Italy), the special prize ‘’De Graaf Unico van Wassenaer Masterclass Award’’ at the van Wassenaer international early music competition in Amsterdam (Neth-erlands). Recently, Stravaganza has been also winner of the H.I.F Biber competition, in Austria (F.J. Aumann Prize).

The first recordings of Stravaganza :” Con-cert at the Hapsburg Court “ and Arcan-gelo Corelli (with trio sonatas opus 3, 4) has been very well received by the critics. Stravaganza is recording for Aparté label record. The new recording of Stravagan-za, with the soprano Hasnaa Benanni has been released in October 2015.

THE ENSEMBLE

travaganza ensemble is a baroque formation mainly dedicated to chamber music of the seventeenth and eighteenth century for one or two high-pitched in-struments. Brought together by the violin-ist Domitille Gilon and the harpsichordist Thomas Soltani, musicians take part with enthusiasm and dedication to this musical and human adventure, which makes each concert a unique and rewarding experi-ence for the audience.

The Stravaganza Ensemble includes various formations, with soloist musicians playing regularly in the main baroque or-chestras: La Simphonie du Marais (Hugo Reyne), Ensemble Sagittarius (Michel Laplénie), Opéra Fuoco (Jay Bernfeld), Gli Incogniti (Amandine Beyer), Les Am-bassadeurs (Alexis Kossenko), Pulcinella (Ophélie Gaillard), Pygmalion (Raphael Pi-chon), les Musiciens de Saint-Julien (Fran-çois Lazarevich)...

The Stravaganza Ensemble is regu-larly invited to numerous international festivals, in France (Printemps des Arts de Monte-Carlo, Festival baroque du Pays du Mont Blanc, Musicale Internationale de Guil Durance, Festival Jeunes-Talents-Paris, Sinfonia en Périgord...), in Scotland (Sypert concert series), in the Netherlands

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Partners


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THE ARTISTS

DOMITILLE GILONViolin

Domitille Gilon got a first prize at the “Conservatoire National de Région” of Bou-logne Billancourt in violin and chamber mu-sic. She completed her violin studies with Christophe Poiget and Nicolas Gourbeix in violin, Zoltan Toth and Reiko Kitahama in string quartet at the “Conservatoire Nation-al et Supérieur de Musique” of Lyon, where she was awarded first prize.

Domitille has appeared in concerts with musicians like Jerôme Pernoo, Bruno Pasquier, Roland Pidoux and was doing reg-ularly the masterclass of the Danel string quartet. In the meantime, she had mas-ter-classes with other artists, Debussy and Tokyo string quartet, Gérard Poulet, JeanJ-acques Kantorov and Jacques Ghestem. Member of the “Orchestre-à-Cordes-des-Jeunes-d’Ile-de-France”, she did several tours and was recording with the Harpist Françoise Demaubus in 1995. Domitille is actually member of the “Orches-tre National D’Ile-de-France”, and plays very

often as a soloist with the main baroque orchestras such as Gli Incogniti (Amandine Beyer), Les Ambassadeurs (Alexis Kossen-ko), Pulcinella (Ophélie Gaillard), Ensem-ble baroque de Limoges (Christophe Coin), Pygmalion (Raphael Pichon), Les Musiciens de Saint-Julien (François Lazarevich)…in the main festivals, all around the world: Festival international de la Roque d’Anthéron, Fes-tival de la Chaise - Dieu, Saint Cecilia Hall - Edinburgh, in the “Salle Pleyel’, “Théâtre des Champs-Elysées”, in England, Brazil…

She was studying baroque violin with Lucy van Dael in the Conservatory of Am-sterdam. The violinist also did several mas-ter-class with Hélène Schmitt, Patrick Bis-muth, Amandine Beyer…

Domitille is artistic director of the en-semble Stravaganza, with the harpsichord-ist Thomas Soltani. She won in October 2011 the third prize and the prize of the crit-ics and medias at the international cham-ber music competition Premio Bonporti (Italy) with Ensemble Stravaganza, and also the special prize ‘’De Graaf Unico van Was-senaer award’’ at the van Wassenaer early music competition in Amsterdam (Nether-lands). She was awarded bronze medal by the “Académie Arts Sciences et Lettres”. Re-cently, she was awarded during the H.I.F. Biber competition, with Stravaganza (F.J. Aumann Prize). She did several recordings in orchestras and as a soloist, which received a lot of awards.


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THE ARTISTS

THOMAS SOLTANIHarpsichord

First prize of Harpsichord in the “Con-servatoire National de Region “of Marseille in 2003 with Christine Lecoin, Thomas Sol-tani has also a bachelor in the Music Univer-sity of Aix-Marseille. He was unanimously awarded first prize Cum Laude for the harp-sichord diploma of bachelor at the “Con-servatorium van Amsterdam” in the class of Bob van Asperen. He has also attended mas-ter classes with Christophe Rousset, Gustav Leonhardt, Françoise Lengellée, Jean Marc Aymes, Lucy Van Dael and Hugo Reyne, at important musical institutions such as the “Académie Musicale de Villecroze”, the “In-stitut Neerlandais” of Paris, the ‘’Piccola Ac-cademia of Montisi’’ (Italy), the Sweelinck festival.

He has appeared concerts in famous festival in France (Printemps des Arts de Monté-Carlo; Festival Jeunes Talents, Festi-val baroque du Pays du Mont-Blanc, Musi-cales internationals de Guil Durance, Sinfo-nia en Périgord, Amilly), Germany (Tage Alter Musiek - Regensburg), Holland (Fabulous

Fringe – Oude Muziek Utrecht), Scotland (Sypert concert series - Edimburg), Austria (Konzerthaus - Vienna), Poland, England..

He studied also with Olivier Baumont in the “Conservatoire superieur de musique et de danse de Paris”.Thomas did also a Master in the Conserva-tory of Amsterdam, in the class of Bob van Asperen where he got his diploma with the highest distinction. He also won in October 2011 the third prize and the prize of the crit-ics and medias at the international chamber music competition Premio Bonporti (Italy), and in November 2011, the special prize ‘’De Graaf Unico van Wassenaer award’’ at the van Wassenaer early music competition in Amsterdam (Netherlands) with his ensem-ble, the ensemble Stravaganza (Artistic di-rection: Domitille Gilon & Thomas Soltani). Recently, he has been winner of the H.I.F. Biber competition (F.J. Aumann Prize)

Thomas was awarded bronze medal by the “Académie Arts Science et Lettres”, and is teaching the harpsichord and the basso-continuo in the conservatories of Compiègne and Fontainebleau.

Ensemble Stravaganza is recording for the label Aparté/Harmonia Mundi and Muso/Harmonia Mundi. The first record-ings of Stravaganza has been very well re-ceived by the critics and media.


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Ensemble Stravaganza Dir. Artistique : Domitille Gilon & Thomas Soltani

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HASNAA BENNANISoprano

Hasnaa Bennani started her musical upbringing with her sister Jalila Bennani and her violin teacher Laszlo Fodor. A graduate of the National Conservatory of Music and Dance of Paris (CNSMDP), where she stud-ied voice in the class of Glenn Chambers, she futhured her voice studies, perfecting her skills regarding early music with How-ard Crook and Isabelle Poulenard.

In 2011, Hasnaa Bennani won the first prize at the Concours de Chant Baroque de Froville (France).

She excels in the sacred Baroque mu-sic repertoire, especially under the direction of Jurjen Hempel (Orchestre d’Auvergne), Patrick Ayrton (Opera de Dijon), Michel Piquenal (Festival des Alizés d’Essaouira), Joël Suhubiette (Festival of Saint-Céré) and Michel Laplénie. She collaborates with the Ensemble Pierre Robert led by Frédéric Desenclos, Le Lorrain Concert conducted by Stéphane Shultz and Anne-Catherine Bucher, Akadêmia under the direction of Françoise Lasserre and with Les Folies Fran-çoises under the direction of Patrick Cohën-Akenine.

She sings regularly with La Grande Ecurie du Roy and la Chambre du Roy under the direction of Jean-Claude Malgoire (Han-

del’s Messiah, the title-role in Blow’s Venus and Adonis at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées...), Le Palais Royal conducted by Jean-Philippe Sarcos, Le Poème Harmo-nique conducted by Vincent Dumestre (Te-osena in Caligula Delirante by Pagliari), La Rêveuse by Benjamin Perrot and Florence Bolton, The Muffatti conducted by Peter Van Heyghen...She has sung the roles of l’Enfant in L’Enfant et les sortilèges by Ravel at the Dominicains de Haute-Alsace, the role of Gretel in Han-sel und Gretel by Humperdinck, Barbarina in Le Nozze di Figaro by Mozart with the Opéra Eclaté directed by Olivier Desbordes, the role of Maguelonne in La Cendrillon by Viardot at the Musée d’Orsay conducted by Emmanuel Olivier and staged by Emma-nuelle Cordoliani, La Neige et Le Printemps in La Chouette Enrhumée, a lyrical work by Gérard Condé at the Opéra de Metz.

Among many projects, Hasnaa Ben-nani has been invited to sing a vast and var-ious repertoire in many recitals, in collabo-ration with the harpsichordists Lawrence Stewart and Kenneth Weiss (Early Music Festival of the Abbey of Saint-Michel-en-Thiérache, Musicales de Normandie, Festi-val Sinfonia en Périgord, Eglise des Billettes in Paris, Bijloke Muziekcentrum in Gent...). She made her debuts at the the Early Mu-sic Festival in Utrecht in motets by Lully and Clérambault with Le Parnasse Français con-ducted by Louis Castelain.

In the next seasons, she will sing in concert Mozart’s David Penitente and Coro-nation Mass with Jean-Claude Malgoire ; the cantata Ino by Telemann with The Muffatti in Belgium ; the Leçons des Ténèbres by Couperin at the Royal Chapel of Versailles with Vincent Dumestre ; Bach and Tele-mann with La Rêveuse in Friburg (Switzer-land) and at the Théâtre d’Orléans ; Bach’s

THE ARTISTS

"Au sein de la jeune distribution, ce sont les deux rivales que l'on remarque surtout – l'angélique et virtuose Teosona de Hasnaa Bennani...".Caligula, Grand Théâtre de Reims, nov 2011

Olivier Rouvière, magazine Diapason

“Côté femme, c’est le bonheur complet, avec les deux voix argentines et délicieuses : celles des so-pranos Caroline Meng (Cesonia, l’épouse de Ca-ligula) et Hasnaa Bennani (Teosona, la fameuse jeune première) “. Caligula, Grand Théâtre de Reims, nov 2011

Jérémy Szpirglas, mouvement.net .

CHANTAL SANTON-JEFFERY

Myung-Whun Chung in the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, where she has since per-formed in The Cunning Little Vixen conduct-ed by Jonathan Darlington and L’occasione Fa Il Ladro conducted by Jean-Christophe Spinosi. Since 2001, she has regularly worked with the French national opera company ARCAL performing major roles in various productions. She also sang on stage Metella in La Vie Parisienne, Nérine in Charpentier’s Medee (conducted by Hervé Niquet), the title-role in La Finta Giardiniera conducted by David Stern, Donna Anna in Don Giovanni …

In concert, she has performed an extremely varied repertoire, ranging from French Baroque to Verdi’s Requiem. Her love of contemporary music has led her to become involved in several world premiere performances in France, Germany, Wales, Italy, Belgium and Japan. French composer Fréderic Verrieres is currently composing a role for her based on Geena Rowlands’s character in Cassavetes Opening Night.

With the internationally acclaimed Il Seminario Musicale directed by Gérard Le-sne, she has sung in numerous baroque fes-tivals. She recently sang the four soprano solo parts in Telemann’s Der Tag des Ger-ichts with Opera Fuoco in the Théâtre des Champs Elysées; a classical French opera recital with Martin Gester’s Parlement de Musique; Brahms’ Ein Deutsches Requiem and Haydn’s Nelson Mass in Paris; Boccher-ini’s Stabat Mater and various Bach’s canta-tas in the Cité de la Musique.

Her performances include Donna Anna in Mozart’s Don Giovanni and Requi-em at the Limoges operahouse; Donna Elvi-ra in a touring production of Don Giovanni conducted by David Stern with whom she also sang Contessa in Le Nozze Di Figaro,

Mass in B minor and Saint John Passion with Les Musiciens du Louvre-Grenoble and Marc Minkowski. Hasnaa Bennani will sing Castor et Pollux in two full-staged produc-tions : with Les Talens Lyriques and Chris-tophe Rousset at the Théâtre du Capitole in Toulouse (directed by Mariame Clément) and with Le Concert Spirituel at the Théâ-tre des Champ-Elysées in Paris (directed by Christian Schiaretti).

LES ARTISTES

Soprano French soprano Chantal Santon Jef-fery made her stage debut in 1999 in Der Freischütz (a bridesmaid) conducted by


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Eleonora in Salieri’s Prima La Musica, Poi Le Parole and the title role in Dido And Aeneas; the lead soprano role in King Arthur by Pur-cell at the Montpellier Opera with Le Con-cert Spirituel conducted by Herve? Niquet.

She also gives a number of regular recitals with pianist Ivan Coueffe singing Strauss, Wagner, Berg, Liszt, Debussy and Britten.

Recent recordings include La Dafne by Da Gagliano (title role) with Fuoco E Ce-nere, a French baroque recital recorded live in Versailles with Ge?rard Lesne and Kraus’ Amphitryon under the baton of Werner Ehrhardt and the Missa Assumpta est with Le Concert Spirituel and Herve? Niquet.

After graduating with a degree in po-litical science, Chantal Santon Jeffery stud-ied singing at the Conservatoire Supe?rieur de Paris with renowned teachers such as Margreet Honig, Noelle Barker, Udo Reine-mann and Ruben Lifschitz.

"Surtout, (...) la distribution vocale s’avère éblouissante. Qui pourrait croire que Chantal Santon Jeffery n’est arrivée qu’une semaine au-paravant ? Cette soprano au répertoire éclec-tique (bien connue des amateurs de musique baroque ou contemporaine, elle abordera la saison prochaine le rôle de Senta) interprète quatre personnages avec un aplomb renver-sant. (...) son aisance dans les notes les plus hautes ne le cède en rien à ce qu’ont pu faire en Zima les reines du suraigu ; même maîtrise confondante dans la virtuosité de « Papillon inconstant ». Infiniment touchante dans l’air « Hymen » de Phani, elle est aussi un Amour au caractère bien trempé, avec un timbre toujo-urs charnu qui nous change agréablement des soubrettes parfois distribuées en Cupidon."

THE ARTISTS

“Here is certainely one of the most interesting personnality of today’s operatic scene... Chan-tal Santon: remember this name, she is a blos-soming diva whose simplicity and sincerity an-nounce future fulfilments, from now on to be followed attentively”. Alexandre Pham august 2011

PRESS

“Another bright new Baroque group takes the stage...Gilon is an authoritative performer and is well supported by continuo musicians who offer plenty of variety of texture and attack... Ensemble Stravaganza are clearly talented musicians.”

Gramophone Magazine - Février 2013

‘’ In Stravanganza's performances, what a wealth of artistry, beauty and variety. They bring intense expressiveness to the slower movements...Some of the finest music of the Baroque period, played with real understanding - I warmly recommend it”

Gramophone- Décembre 2013

‘’ La grande écoute et l’immense musicalité des musiciens de Stravaganza ‘’

Le Figaro, Christian Merlin - Mars 2015

“Bookended between rarities by Reali (including his ‘Follia’) trio sonatas by Corelli receive urbane eloquent, fastidiously considered performances.”

Paul Riley, BBC Music Magazine – Janvier 2013

‘’ Cette mise en bouche achevée, on retrouve avec le même bonheur les rivages corelliens, alanguis et solaires, nimbés de cette douceur à la fois sensuelle et nostalgique dans laquelle on aime se laver. A la manière d’un Enrico Gatti (Arca-na) – et cela n’est pas un mince compliment que d’avancer une telle comparaison – l’Ensemble Stravaganza progresse avec la certitude de l’écume, ce bouillonnement doux et inéluctable.’’

Viet-Linh Nguyen– Muse baroque

"L'écoute de l'enregistrement dévoile une inter-prétation engagée, un instrumentarium aux so-norités limpides porté par un continuo mobile et attractif, qui plus est, on sent une certaine verdeur exaltant un Corelli bondissant, plein de sève... On terminera sur un feu d'artifice, La Folia du même Reali... dont nos jeunes mu-siciens donnent une ébouriffante exécution. "

Jérémie Bigorie, Classica - Novembre 2013

"Ed ecco che questo disco dell'ensemble Stravaganza, mi riconcilia, in qualche modo, col divino Corelli, in qualche modo umanizzato, non più congelato nella sua ingualcibile eleganza. E questo anche grazie all'idea geniale di associarlo ad un altro compositore suo contemporaneo, Giovanni Reali, attivo a Venezia e a Guastalla all'inizio del '700 – di cui ben poco si sa ed ancor meno si dice nell'interessante libretto che accompa-gna il disco, libretto peraltro ricco di interes-santi notizie sugli aspetti più umani della vita di Corelli".

Ferruccio Nuzzo, Grey Panthers - Nov2013

‘’Sous l'impulsion du claveciniste Thomas Soltani (entre autres), le jeune ensemble français Strava-ganza éblouit littéralement dans ce programme audacieux, exigeant, musicalement virtuose...’’

Carl Fisher - classiquenews.com

‘’ Un premier CD très réussi pour l'Ensemble Stravaganza, qui signe ici un très bel hommage à un continent presque inconnu de l'Europe du Nord : l'Allemagne du 17e siècle...”

Michel Jakubowicz - On-Mag.fr

“Leur premier CD vient ponctuer un début de parcours plus que prometteur ! Ils nous emmènent à Vienne, à la cour des Habsbourg au XVIIe siècle. Biber, Froberger, Schmelzer et Walther sont de la partie. Le violon revêt ses plus beaux atours et la musique brille de tous ses feux !”

CD of the week - Musiq 3


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CONTACT


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Ensemble StravaganzaDirection Artistique : Domitille Gilon & Thomas Soltani 3A, rue Ampère, 91300 Massy http://ensemble-stravaganza.comMail : [email protected] Mob : +33 (0) 6 52 06 84 67

Ensemble Stravaganza

Documents

Transcript of Ensemble Stravaganza