Monday, September 25
Trakošćan castle, 9.00 p.m.
Night concert by candlelight
Alter Ego
Eleonora Biščević, baroque flute
Arianna Radaelli, harpsichord
Pantheon
Arcangelo CorelliSonata D major op.5 no.1
Grave–Allegro–Adagio–Grave–Allegro-Adagio
Allegro
Allegro
Adagio
Allegro
Francesco Maria Veracini
Sonata in E minor op.1 no.7
Fantasia: Largo–Allegro–Largo
Allemanda: Larghetto
Pastorale: Adagio
Giga: Allegro
Domenico Scarlatti
Sonata in G major, K 144
Cantabile
Arcangelo Corelli
Sonata in G minor op.5 no.5
Adagio
Vivace
Adagio
Vivace
Giga: Allegro
Eleonora Bišćević
Improvised preludi for solo flute
Luka Sorkočević
Sonata in A major
Allegro moderato
Andante sostenuto
Allegro
Francesco Xaverio Geminiani
Sonata IV in D major (op.1 no.10)
Adagio
Allegro
Adagio
Allegro-Adagio
Presto
Duo Alter Ego was created by the meeting of two musicians, both originally from Milan, in Basel during their studies at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis. In that institution, the ensemble received important encouragement from teachers such as Marc Hantaï, Francesco Corti, Jörg-Andreas Bötticher, Katharina Arfken and Kathrin Bopp. Active since 2019, the duo is primarily dedicated to performing Italian and German music from the Baroque period. An important element of the ensemble's work is the discovery and performance of forgotten authors, especially the Italian repertoire for flute (with general bass or harpsichord obbligato) of the 18th century. In addition, Alter Ego is intensively engaged in arrangements, historical and own, of the repertoire of other instruments. In 2022, the duo recorded their first CD with Corelli's sonatas op. 5 no. 1-6 in their historic arrangement for baroque flute: the work was selected in a competition by Da Vinci Publishing, and the CD will be released later in 2023. In 2023, the ensemble was nominated for the Artist-in-Residence of Schloss Weißenbrunn in Germany. Alter Ego gives concerts all over Europe and has already performed at renowned festivals such as Festival Oude Muziek in Utrecht (Netherlands), Urbino Musica Antica (Italy) and Swiss Foundation for Young Musicians (Switzerland).
Eleonora Bišćević was born in 1994 in Monza. After successfully completing the study of recorder and historical transverse flute at the Milan Conservatory, she continued her education at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis in Basel, graduating in historical transverse flute in 2019 in to the class of Marc Hantaïa, and then historical improvisation in 2021 (specialized master's) in the classes of Dirk Börner and Markus Schwenkreis. As her second instrument, she also attended organ lessons throughout her studies, in the class of Tobias Lindner. During her studies and later she also attended lessons and seminars of numerous musicians, including Barthold Kuijken, Marcello Gatti, Manuel Granatiero, Linde Brunmayr-Tutz for flute, Wolfgang Zerer and Luca Guglielmi for organ, and Rudolf Lutz for historical improvisation. She is active throughout Europe as a soloist, chamber and orchestral musician, collaborating with many ensembles including Le Concert des Nations (Jordi Savall), Gli Incogniti (Amandine Beyer), Le Parlement de Musique (Martin Gester), Il Pomo d'Oro, and the Croatian Baroque Ensemble (HRBA), while during her studies she was also a member of the European Union Baroque Orchestra (EUBO). She recorded for Harmonia Mundi, Alia Vox and Whales Records. She won the Bärenreiter-Urtext-Preis award at the Telemann-Wettbewerb international soloist competition in Magdeburg (Germany) in 2021. In 2018, she founded the ensemble Girandola Quartett, with which she dedicates herself to rarely performed flute quartets from the classicism and pre-romantic periods, on historical instruments, while in 2019, she founded the duo Alter Ego with harpsichordist Arianna Radaelli, with whom she performs mainly Italian and German repertoire for flute and harpsichord from the 18th century.
Eleonora Bišćević is particularly active in the field of improvisation, primarily in early music but also in crossover genres. She regularly includes it in her concerts and holds seminars on the topic of historical improvisation. She is also engaged in composition: several of her works have already been performed in Italy and Switzerland. Since 2021, she has been the principal organist at St. Jakob's Church in Basel.
Arianna Radaelli, harpsichordist and pianist from Milan, graduated in piano in the class of Silvija Rumi at the Milan Conservatory, and completed a master’s degree in piano training with Paolo Bordoni. After graduating from the classical gymnasium, she completed a master’s degree in harpsichord and historical keyboards at the Conservatory in Como, in the class of Giovanni Togni. Later, she completed a master’s degree in performance and a master’s degree in pedagogy in the classes of Francesco Corti and Andrea Marcona at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis. She attended harpsichord, fortepiano, organ and improvisation lessons and seminars with numerous musicians, including E. Fadini, B. Cuiller, S. Sempé, B. Martin, E. Baiano, C. Rousset, J.A. Bötticher, D. Börner, L.F. Tagliavini, G. Tabacco, O. Baumont. She devotes herself intensively to music pedagogy: from 2021 to 2023, she taught figured bass and worked as an accompanist at the Institut für Alte Musik der Universität Mozarteum Salzburg. From January 2023, he teaches harpsichord and figured bass at the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst in Stuttgart. In the summer of 2023, she also taught figured bass at the summer seminar of early music in Urbino (FIMA, Italy). Arianna Radaelli is the winner of several solo and chamber competitions, including the XIX Biagio Marini chamber music competition and the XIX Paola Bernardi international harpsichord competition in Bologna. She played under conductors such as Jordi Savall, Václav Luks, Alfredo Bernardini, Andrea Marcon and Luca Quintavalle. Arianna Radaelli was a musical assistant in the creation of baroque operas at the Internationale Festspiele Göttingen and the Innsbrucker Festwochen der Alten Musik and performed as a harpsichord and fortepiano soloist and as a member of ensembles and orchestras at numerous festivals, among which Freunde Alter Musik Basel, Styriarte Festival, Urbino Musica Antica, Actus Humanus Gdansk, FEMUBA. Arianna Radaelli is the co-founder of the duo Alter Ego and collaborates with Abchordis Ensemble, Anima&Corpo Ensemble, Ensemble Zefiro, Bachakademie Stuttgart, Café Zimmermann.