Sunday, September 20
Croatian National Theatre in Varaždin, Great Concert Hall, 8.00 p.m.
With the support of Wallonie-Bruxelles International
Scherzi Musicali
Nicolas Achten, baritone (Testo), theorbo, artistic leadership
Sojeong Im, soprano (Clorinda, Angelica)
Emanuele Petracco, tenor (Tancredi, Ruggero)
Ann Cnop, violin I
Félix Verry, violin II
Benoît Douchy, tenor violin
Valentin Bajou, bass violin and lirone
Mathieu Valfré, harpsichord
François Dambois, theorbo and guitar
Jean-Marc Amé, staging
Combattimenti!
Gasparo Zanetti
Caccia amorosa e correnta
Claudio Monteverdi
Il combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda
Giovanni de Macque
Consonanze Stravagante
Sigismondo d´India
Amico, hai vinto Sigismondo
Tomasso Cecchini
Gioia del Paradiso
Ivan Lukačić
Panis Angelicus
Salamone Rossi
Sonata sopra l`aria di Ruggiero
Giovanni-Felice Sances
L`infortunio d`Angelica
Biaggio Marini
Passacalio à 3 e à 4
For more than fifteen years, Scherzi Musicali has been one of the leading ensembles in the world of early music, renowned for its exploration of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century repertoire. The ensemble brings together between three and forty musicians under the direction of Nicolas Achten (b. 1985), one of the few singers who accompanies himself on the lute, theorbo, harp or harpsichord. Scherzi Musicali performs throughout Europe in some of the continent's most prestigious concert halls and festivals. Its discography comprises thirteen albums, including eleven world-premiere recordings of works by composers such as Caccini, Mazzocchi, Bertali, Sances, Scarlatti, Colonna, the Brussels-based Fiocco and the Liège-based Hamal. Released by Ricercar, Alpha, Sony and Musique en Wallonie, these recordings have received numerous distinctions, including the Diapason d'Or, Choc de Classica, Prix Cæcilia and Joker de Crescendo.
Baritone, harpsichordist, lutenist, harpist and conductor Nicolas Achten (Brussels, b. 1985) came to prominence in the world of early music at a very young age, becoming laureate of the 7th International Baroque Singing Competition in Chimay (2006); in 2009, he was named Classical Artist of the Year at the Octaves de la Musique and received the Young Musician of the Year Award from the Union of the Belgian Music Press. Nicolas Achten studied singing, lute, harpsichord, historical harp and conducting at the Royal Conservatories of Brussels and The Hague. He completed his musical training through a series of masterclasses, notably at the Académie baroque d'Ambronay and the Centre de la Voix de Royaumont. Since 2004, he has been invited by prestigious early music ensembles, including l'Arpeggiata, la Fenice, La Petite Bande, Ausonia, les Agrémens, Akadêmia, Les Talens Lyriques, Il Fondamento, Les Musiciens du Louvre, Il Seminario Musicale, le Poème Harmonique, Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, Ensemble Phoenix Munich, and under the baton of conductors such as Jean Tubéry, Sigiswald Kuijken, Marc Minkowski, Christophe Rousset, and René Jacobs. Today he is one of the few classical singers to accompany himself, reviving the historical practice. In order to explore this approach further and bring his research to life in performance, he founded the ensemble Scherzi Musicali, whose concerts across Europe and thirteen recordings have earned widespread acclaim from audiences and the international press (Diapason d'Or, Diapason Découverte, Choc de Classica, Joker de Crescendo, La Clef de ResMusica, Prelude Classical Award, Muse d'Or, Ring de Classique Info, Outstanding (International Record Review), Prix Cæcilia). Alongside his work in early music, he also explores cross-genre collaborations, performing in a duo with the folk accordionist Didier Laloy, or in a trio with the jazz saxophonist Manu Hermia and pop/rock singer Kris Dane. Nicolas Achten is a professor of early music singing and lute, and also teaches historical temperaments and tuning at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels. He was musical director of the Muziektheater Transparant summer courses from 2007 to 2015, and is regularly invited to give masterclasses throughout Europe (Operastudio Vlaanderen, SIMAW in Namur, the University of East Anglia, the Yorke Trust (Norfolk), and the Conservatorio di Milano.