Saturday, September 19th
Trakošćan Castle, Hall of Knights, 11:00 a.m.
COUNTERPOINTS ENSEMBLE
Italophilia
Discovering the Italian Style in Händel's London
Henry Purcell
Ground in D minor, Z.D222
Sonata No. 10 in D major
Adagio
Canzona
Grave
Largo - Allegro
John Eccles
Air V. (on a ground) from The mad lover
Giovanni Battista Bononcini
Divertimento da camera in G major for recorder and basso continuo
Affettuoso
Allegro
Lento
Allegro
Anonymous
Tollet’s ground
from: The Division Flute
George Friedrich Händel
Trio Sonata Op. 2 No. 1b in B minor, HWV 386b
Andante
Allegro
Largo
Allegro
Thomas Baltzar
John come kiss me now (on a ground)
Francesco Geminiani
Sonata No. 2 Op. 5 in D minor, H. 104
Andante
Presto
Adagio
Allegro
Antonio Vivaldi
Concerto da Camera in F major, RV 100
Allegro
[Largo]
Allegro
The members of early music ensemble The Counterpoints found each other in a vibrant yet precise style of playing, and a huge enthusiasm for the chamber music repertoire and the period instruments from the 17th and 18th centuries. Originally founded by recorder player Thomas Triesschijn and harpsichordist Aljosja Mietus, throughout the years the ensemble grew to a base group of core members (recorder, violin, cello, and harpsichord), and is regularly expanded to adapt to the repertoire they are playing. Their name, derived from the compositional technique of counterpoint, implies several voices that all play an equal part in the texture of a piece. Every voice has its individual character, but the whole is more than the sum of its parts. For The Counterpoints, playing together works in exactly the same way. They all get their chance to show their qualities and stand out, but give room to the others to do the same. As in counterpoint, the number of voices can vary.
In their approach on stage and in their recordings, storytelling is always a priority. On their 2019 debut CD La Querelleuse (awarded an Editor’s Choice in Gramophone Magazine), they used Telemann's quarrelsome love life as a metaphor for his ‘quarrels’ with musical styles. Their second CD Thomascantors in Dialogue imagines a dialogue between the four composers who applied in 1723 for the position of Thomascantor in Leipzig. Their latest album, Italophilia, featured in this concert's programme, explores the vibrant cultural and musical exchange between Italy and the British Isles during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. With their expressive playing and well-thought-out programmes, The Counterpoints have become an established group within the early music scene, and they have played at venues and festivals such as the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam and the Utrecht Early Music Festival.