News...

Now that the critically acclaimed North Italian Violin Concertos project has finished, 2009 sees the beginning of a new era for La Serenissima in which we explore concertos for flute, recorder, violin and bassoon*.

Vivaldi - The French Connection has already been recorded (January 2009) and will be available from May/June this year. The main project for 2010 is a programme again of Vivaldi concerti entitled Gods and Emperors whilst 2011 returns to the theme of 2009 with French Connection 2. As usual we will be performing this repertoire at high Venetian pitch for which a new flute has recently been purchased. The bassoon, another recent acquisition, can already be heard on North Italian Violin Concertos 3.

Alongside these larger orchestral concerts, we will also be presenting smaller programmes of chamber music featuring the above solo instruments. We also hope in 2010 (finances permitting) to produce a companion volume to our very first record, Per Monsieur Pisendel.

Other major news from La Serenissima is that we have recently signed with Rayfield Artists, a young and dynamic agency. As a result of this collaboration we hope to increase our concert profile—both in the UK and abroad—thereby lifting record sales and income, so that we can find the funds to support such projects as Per Monsieur Pisendel 2.

Links: Rayfield Artists

*soloists: Katy Bircher (flute), Pamela Thorby (recorders), Peter Whelan (bassoon)

 

About...

La Serenissima was formed in 1994 for a performance of Antonio Vivaldi’s La Senna festeggiante (RV 693) and has now firmly established itself as one of the leading exponents of the music of Antonio Vivaldi and his Italian contemporaries.

Since the first CD release in 2003, La Serenissima has been universally applauded by publications such as Gramophone Magazine, The Sunday Times, BBC Music Magazine, Diapason, Fanfare Magazine, American Record Guide, The Independent, The Strad, La Stampa, Gaudisc and the London Evening Standard for its performances and recordings on the AVIE label. They have made seven recordings to date and they have just received their first Gramophone Award nomination.

Whilst works like The Four Seasons form an important part of La Serenissima’s repertoire, (one performance being described by The Independent as ‘bouncily eager to entertain, astonish and delight,’) La Serenissima pride themselves on bringing works seldom heard to the concert platform, including Vivaldi’s Ottone in Villa (RV 729), Giustino (RV 724), Tito Manlio (RV 717), La Fida Ninfa (RV 714) Tremori al braccio (RV 799), the violin sonata (RV 798), the Concerto fatto per la Solennità della S. Lingua di S. Antonio in Padova, 1712 (RV 212), the two double violin concerti from his manuscript set ‘La Cetra’ (RV 520 & 526) and arias from La costanza trionfante degl’amori e de gl’odii (RV 706). Rarities by other composers include Albinoni’s Il Nascimento dell’Aurora, and Caldara’s Cantata per la Notte del Santissimo Natale.

La Serenissima has appeared at many of the UK’s leading festivals and venues including South Bank Early Music Festival, Chelsea, Chester, Spitalfields, Warwick, Lichfield and the Beverley Early Music Festivals, York Early Music Festival, Cambridge Summer Music, St George’s Bristol, Snape Maltings and London’s Cadogan and Queen Elizabeth Halls. They have also appeared in Italy, Germany, Denmark, Belgium, Mexico and Spain to great acclaim.

Nearly the entire repertoire of La Serenissima is edited by director Adrian Chandler from manuscript sources, a testament to their commitment and passion for rare and exciting Italian music and a feat which makes them unique amongst other baroque ensembles.