Before the solemn opening of the VIVAT CURLANDIA! festival, young listeners of early music are invited to get acquainted with historical musical instruments and see a breathtaking, aristocratic dances. Musicians and dancers, dressed in Rococo costumes sewn by the artist Jeļena Forste, will delight the hearts of young listeners with the harmonious sounds of baroque instruments and present how different the harpsichord, baroque violin and viola sound.

In order to conjure up the atmosphere, the hall of Bauska Culture Center will be lit only by candlelight, which will be taken care of by scenographer Artūrs Arnis. After the children’s concert, there will be an opportunity to take photos with dancers and musicians dressed in ancient costumes, see their musical instruments and ask a question of interest to them.

Language of the event – Latvian

09 July 13.30 – 14.00 | Bauska Castle courtyard

OPENING CEREMONY OF THE FESTIVAL “VIVAT CURLANDIA!”

For the first time in Latvia, the Early Music Festival “Vivat Curlandia!” will open the outstanding medieval music ensemble EX SILENTIO from Greece. The ensemble’s program “In the fall of the Middle Ages: French tradition and Mediterranean courts” is focusing on the rich secular music of the French tradition between the Ars Nova and the emerging Franco-flemish style, or else linking the 14th with the 15th century. Polyphonic and monophonic pieces by master composers such as Machaut and Du Fay are presented together with rare works from the late medieval Codex of Cyprus (Ms Torino J.II.9) and the Lusignan Court of Nicosia. Last but not least the earlier French-Occitan tradition found in the Kingdom of Thessaloniki (13th c.) is represented by the great Troubadour Raimbaut de Vaqueiras and his crusade song and other chansons.

Program: works by Guillaume de Machaut, Johannes Ciconia, Raimbaut de Vaqueiras, Guillaume Du Fay, chansons from the Codex Torino J.II.9

EX SILENTIO (Greece):
Irene Bilini – voice & fiddle
Dimitris Kountouras – recorder, traverso & direction
Elektra Miliadou – fiddle 
Flora Papadopoulos – medieval harp

Thinking about the program of this concert, the Latvian soprano Elīna Šimkus says: “I wanted to reveal the world of ancient English songs of the 16th century.  The solo songs in the program are united not only by the works of composers/contemporaries – John Dowland and Thomas Campion, but also by love in words, sounds and mood. In this program, Campion is also revealed as a poet, whose texts were used in the Masque composed in 1607, revealing the musical vision of 4 composers and celebrating the feast of love – Lord Hayes’ marriage. “Come again, sweet love doth now invite” is probably John Dowland’s best-known song, which best describes the unifying emotional mood of this concert – love. Happy and fulfilled, unhappy and lost. One that lifteth up the wings and inspires, and one that destroys the hearts in the torments of hell.”

Musicians:
Elīna Šimkus (soprano)
Kristīne Stumbure (renaissance traverso)
Mauro Pinciaroli (archlute, Italy)

Jau gadu tūkstošiem dziesminieki un dzejnieki apdzied Amora pastrādātās delverības.
Jo, lūk, šis mazais mīlas dievs pārvērš ļaudis līdz nepazīšanai. Viņš atvelk loku, notēmē un raida savu burvju bultu nevainīgajam tieši sirdī. Kam trāpījusi Amora bulta, tas dzied pilnā balsī un dejo ielas vidū. Viņš grib tikai vienu – DZĪVOT ar pilnu krūti! Tāpēc arī vislielākie varoņdarbi tiek izdarīti mīlas ietekmē, un arī lielākās muļķības pastrādātas mīlas ietekmē. Jo tas jau ir Amora nodoms – sajaukt cilvēku prātus un apvienot to sirdis.
Mijoties mūzikai un dzejai, izdzīvosim mīlnieku kaislības. Koncertā lasīsim Dantes, Petrarkas un Šekspīra mīlas dzejas. Skanēs Viljama Bērda, Jāna Pēterszona Svēlinka, Pītera Filipsa un citu renesanses komponistu klavesīna darbi.

“Top ūdens karsts, – ir mīlai tāda vara, 
Bet ūdens mīlu vēsu nepadara.”  

Performers:
Sigita Pļaviņa (poetry) 
Ivo Martinsons (poetry) 
Gertruda Jerjomenko (harpsichord)

The opera/pastoral tragedy “La Morte d’Orfeo” by the Italian composer Stefano Landi was first performed in Rome in 1619 and dedicated to Alessandro Mattei, familiaris of Pope Paul V. The libretto, probably written by the composer himself, is partly inspired by Angelo Poliziano’s “La Favola d’Orfeo” (1484). Unlike Claudio Monteverdi’s opera “L’Orfeo” and the earliest Florentine operas on the same subject (Perri’s and Caccini’s “LEuridice”), Landi’s opera contains vivid comic episodes and characters and is like a sequel to the story of Orpheus.

After Orpheus has failed to save his wife Euridice from the underworld, he renounces wine and the love of women. This offends the god Bacchus who urges his female followers, the Maenads, to kill Orpheus. The enraged Maenads tear him apart. The gods want the dead Orpheus to join them on Olympus but Orpheus wants to be reunited with Euridice in Hades. Only after the god Mercury shows him that, having drunk the waters of Lethe, Euridice no longer remembers her husband, does Orpheus agree to ascend to Olympus.

Performers:
Baroque opera company COLLEGIUM MUSICUM RIGA

Soloists: Monta Martinsone (soprano), Rūta Vosyliūtė (soprano, Lithuania), Ieva Sumeja (soprano), Nora Kalniņa (soprano), Anete Viļuma (soprano), Simona Jocevičiūtė (soprano, Lithuania), Emma Alessi Innocenti (mezzo-soprano, Italy), Ignas Ščesnulevičius (tenor, Lithuania), Krišs Pozemkovskis (bass), Daniils Kuzmins (bass), Arūnas Maliukas (bass, Lithuania).

Baroque orchestra Collegium Musicum Riga, baroque choir Collegium Choro Musici Riga, historical gestures: Katerina Antonenko (United Kingdom), costumes designer: Jeļena Forste, stage director: Artūrs Arnis, artistic director and conductor: Māris Kupčs.

In the second half of the century – from the latter – derives a new form of purely instrumental mold, called “canzone da sonare”, which is considered today the ancestor of instrumental forms such as suites and sonatas that will be subsequently developed in the Baroque period. The Brescian Biagio Marini, returning from Venice where he had been violinist and chapel master in the Basilica of San Marco, took on the role of musical director of the Accademia degli Erranti, from 1619 to 1621, bringing with him a new wealth of experience resulting from the encounter with Claudio Monteverdi, Salomone Rossi and Dario Castello. A group of intellectuals and men of letters, the academy was concerned with literary studies, chivalry, swordplay and music. The seat was at the Teatro Grande, a space granted by the Republic of Venice in 1643, shortly after its construction. Among the men of letters who took part were Ottavio Rossi, Pietro Paolo Ormanico, Carlo Francesco Pollarolo, Bartolomeo Dotti. Among the musicians there is also Francesco Corbetta.

Program: Biagio Marini, Girolamo Frescobaldi, Dario Castello, Giovanni Battista Fontana, G. Picchi, Antonio Bertali, Isabella Leonarda, Alessandro Stradella, Arcangelo Corelli, Michele Mascitti.

QUARTETTO VANVITELLI (Italy):
Gian Andrea Guerra (baroque violin)
Nicola Brovelli (baroque cello)
Mauro Pinciaroli (archlute)
Luigi Accardo (harpsichord & organ)

LOCATIONS OF THE EVENTS
Bauska Castle (Bauskas pils) address: Pilskalns, Bauska, LV-3901, Latvija;
Bauska Culture centre (Bauskas kultūras centrs) address: Kalna iela 18, Bauska, LV-3901, Latvija;
Bauska Church of the Holy Spilit (Bauskas Sv. Gara baznīca) address: Plūdoņa iela 13A, Bauska, LV-3901, Latvija.

Have any questions? Please don’t hesitate to contact us: info@earlymusic.lv or +371 25714770.
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