Programmes
“Even though our programs vary greatly, they are united by a communicative, improvisatory, rhetorical, and creative approach – taking inspiration from historical sources, ranging from texts to early recordings.”
Below you will find a few highlights. For more details, please have a look at this downloadable brochure.
Geminiani: The Wild Timist
Octavie Dostaler-Lalonde, cello / Artem Belogurov, harpsichord / Víctor García García cello / Michele Pasotti, theorbo / Margaret Margaret Urquhart, violone
“Geminiani can have no more sympathetic an advocate…”
Gramophone, 2025
For Octavie and Artem, Francesco Geminiani’s music has been a cornerstone of their artistic journey, shaping their collaborations and latest recording. His improvisatory style—admired in England but considered too wild in Naples—inspires their approach, emphasizing rhythmic flexibility, ornamentation, and continuo improvisation. This program also explores basso continuo realization on the cello, a practice Geminiani documented, with a second cello reinforcing harmonic textures. The result is a dynamic, interactive interpretation, capturing the extemporaneous spirit of 18th-century performance. Released on CD by Challenge Classics in 2024, this recording brings Geminiani’s inventive sound world to life.
Sublimely Intimate: Arias and Songs at Home
String quartet / traverso / harpsichord / Elisabeth Hetherington, soprano
“Hetherington seizes the opportunities presented with both hands. Both acting and singing she manages to place herself in the center of the action for the majority of the performance, claiming all the attention for herself.”
Place de l’Opera Magazine, 2022
Just as pop songbooks are widely available today, 18th-century music lovers collected and played popular opera arias, folk melodies, and English adaptations at home. Unlike the grand productions of the stage, these songs were meant for flexible instrumentation and varying skill levels, often featuring unspecified or optional parts. Embracing this tradition, we aim to bring these works to a more intimate setting, much like amateur musicians of the time.
Photo by Rob van Dam