Saturday, September 26th
Opeka Castle, 5.00 p.m.
Les Abbagliati
Sien Huybrechts, traverso
Dirk Vandaele, violin
Ronan Kernoa, cello
Dimos de Beun, harpsichord
Griet de Geyter, soprano
Marieke Van Ransbeeck, baroque musette
Joseph Bodin de Boismortier
Premier Ballet de village op. 52
Gaiment
Gracieusement
Vivement
Modérément
Mouvement de Chaconne
Louis Lemaire
La Musette, cantatille
Gracieusement
Air: Pour engager mon jeune cœur
Air: Sur la naissante herbette
Récitatif: Mirthil enchanté de sa chaîne
Air: Raisonnez ma musette
Joseph Bodin de Boismortier
Suite in G major for flute and basso continuo, op. 35 no. 2
Preludij
Bourrée
Musette en Rondeau
Rigaudon I & II
Jacques Hotteterre/arr. Marieke Van Ransbeeck
La Noce champêtre
Louis Lemaire
Le Rossignol, cantatille
Joseph Bodin de Boismortier
Trio Sonata in G major for violin, cello and basso continuo, op. 50
Largo
Allegro
Larghetto
Allegro
Jean-Philippe Rameau
Les Indes galantes – Scene II
The Belgian ensemble Les Abbagliati takes its name from an informal seventeenth-century Venetian academy of arts and sciences. The ensemble’s core line-up consists of traverso, violin, cello, and harpsichord, although it expands or contracts according to the requirements of each programme. The music of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries lies at the heart of Les Abbagliati's artistic interests. Their programmes combine celebrated masterpieces with lesser-known musical discoveries, bringing together works by famous composers and unjustly neglected masters. Depending on the programme, the ensemble regularly collaborates with guest artists, including soprano Gwendoline Blondeel in programmes devoted to Handel and the French Baroque, musette player Marieke Van Ransbeeck, and storyteller Sieglinde Michiel. The result is a fresh and imaginative exploration of musical history. The musicians of Les Abbagliati first met while studying at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels. Each has pursued an impressive international career, performing with renowned early music ensembles such as Il Gardellino, Ricercar Consort, Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra, Anima Eterna, Ensemble Pygmalion, Concerto Köln, B'Rock and A Nocte Temporis. In 2010, the ensemble was selected as a finalist in the annual International Young Artist Presentation in Antwerp. Since then, it has steadily built an international reputation through regular appearances both in Belgium and abroad. Among its notable achievements are its residency as a young ensemble at the Festival de Musique Baroque d'Ambronay (2011), a showcase performance for the Réseau Européen de Musique Ancienne (REMA) (2013), appearances at the Internationale Barocktage Stift Melk (2015), a concert at Kadriorg Palace in Tallinn organised by Corelli Music and the Flemish Representation for Poland and the Baltic States (2018), performances at the FEMAP – Festival de Música Antiga dels Pirineus as well as in Turku and Helsinki (2019), the release of the album d'Astorga & Lalli on the Ramée label (2020), accompanying the finalists of the MAfestival Bruges Harpsichord Competition and the performance of Midsummerdream at the Oslo Chamber Music Festival (2023), and the creation of the family production Midsummer at Muziekcentrum de Bijloke and Muziekcentrum Dranouter (2024).
Marieke Van Ransbeeck is a versatile Belgian bagpiper specialising in the French musette (the Baroque bagpipe), Belgian bagpipes and Swedish bagpipes. This unique combination of instruments has shaped her distinctive artistic voice, through which she brings to life the music of her own creative world. Driven by a lifelong passion for folk and traditional music, she seeks to share its vitality and expressive richness with audiences around the world. She composes for her award-winning ensemble Marvara as well as for her solo project Underlands, which combines the musette with live electronics. She studied at the Early Music Department of LUCA School of Arts (Campus Lemmens) before pursuing her passion for folk music abroad. She became the first Belgian to graduate from the internationally renowned Nordic Master in Folk Music, a programme dedicated to contemporary folk music in the Nordic countries. In 2021, the Flemish national radio station Klara named her one of the most promising musicians of her generation in its De Twintigers series, an important milestone in her career. This recognition led to performances at major venues in Belgium, the Nordic countries, the United Kingdom and beyond. In 2024, she received the prestigious Vocatio Laureate Award for her project Fields of Folk.
Over the past few years, she has collaborated with several distinguished orchestras and ensembles, including Les Abbagliati, Concerto Copenhagen, the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra and the Pirkanmaan Barokki Orchestra. Among the highlights of her career are solo performances at the internationally renowned electronic music festival Tomorrowland, held in Boom (2023) and Brazil (2024). She currently performs primarily with her international ensemble Marvara, her solo project Underlands, and Midzomer, a co-production with the Baroque ensemble Les Abbagliati.
Belgian soprano Griet de Geyter enjoys an international concert career with a repertoire spanning from the early Baroque to twenty-first-century music. Among her notable projects are a video recording of Bach's St Matthew Passion with the Netherlands Bach Society for the All of Bach platform, the opera production Dido & Acis, and collaborations with ensembles including il Gardellino, Netherlands Bach Society, Collegium Vocale Gent, Collegium Marianum, Le Poème Harmonique, BachPlus, and Trondheim Sinfonietta. She has performed under the direction of distinguished conductors such as Philippe Herreweghe, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Richard Egarr, Václav Luks, Peter van Heyghen, and Andrew Parrott. As a soloist, she regularly performs Bach's Passions and cantatas, Mozart's masses, Handel's Messiah, Mahler's symphonies, Grieg's Peer Gynt, and major works by Mendelssohn, Pergolesi, Boccherini, Vivaldi, and Fauré. Her extensive discography includes recordings with il Gardellino, Collegium Vocale, Utopia, Blindman, Hathor Consort, Pluto Ensemble, and BachPlus. Recent releases include her solo album Stille Klagen (Passacaille, 2020), Franz, Peter & Schubert with the trio Meleas (Enigma, 2022), and the digital release Clara's Heart, recorded with the keyboard duo Zeitspiel for Warner Classics. She studied singing and recorder at LUCA School of Arts – Campus Leuven-Lemmens, continued her training at the Dutch National Opera Academy, and graduated magna cum laude from the Royal Conservatory of The Hague in 2007, where she also received the Ruim Baan Voor Talent scholarship for further study.