An Englishman’s ballad

The English baroque ballads performed by the tenor Jeffrey Thompson are nothing short of a journey through life, exploring time, emotions and memories. Thompson employs an extensive spectrum of vocal and dramatic skills, with an exceptional variation in his portrayal of the depth of human emotions, all the way to the frivolous lightness of pure joy and silliness of the kind we only find in English Baroque poetry and music. Philippe Pierlot is a Belgian musician of inter- national renown. Daniel Zapico has also been a guest at AMUZ in the past. All three of them are among the best in the world. A heart-warming concert!

Programme
Music by J. Blow, H. Purcell, N. Lanier, C. Simpson, J. Clarke and others

Performers
Jeffrey Thompson, tenor | Daniel Zapico, theorbo & baroque guitar | Philippe Pierlot, viol

When
Thursday 18 November 2021 – 20.00 AMUZ

18 November, 2021 20:00

Unarum Fidium. Early Baroque Violin Sonatas from Venice and Vienna

The violinist Sophie Gent has played here several times as a soloist with Ensemble Masques and il Gardellino, among others. The expressive, virtuoso violin repertoire composed in Italy and the Vienna area in the early 17th century could have been written especially for her. Besides Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber’s impressive Passacaglia for violin solo, the final movement of his famous Rosenkranz-Sonaten, she will play sonatas by Fontana, Uccellini and Schmelzer with the harpsichordist Maude Gratton. This promises to be a memorable evening of music that stimulates the imagination, played by two inspiring musicians.

Programme
Music by T. Merula, G.B. Fontana, D. Castello, G. Picchi, M. Uccellini, J.K. Kerll, J.J. Froberger, J.H. Schmelzer & H.I.F. von Biber

Performers
Sophie Gent, violin | Maude Gratton, harpsichord

When
Friday 19.11.2021 – 20.00 AMUZ

19 November, 2021 20:00

Alexandra Aerts, Merel De Vilder Robier, Emilie Lauwers & Ludo Mariën

The family production Wolf is a concert with live drawings, inspired by the music of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. It is a journey through polders and sticky clay, as well as a bittersweet fairytale about the wolf within us. Wolf is about eternity: eternal searching, eternal flight. A flight that sometimes ends and sometimes does not. Wolf is a search for the beast inside us. The cruelty of human beings. The cold power of indifference. Wolf is about the border between beauty and suffering. With sparks of hope and stardust…

Programme
Music by W.A. Mozart

Performers
Alexandra Aerts, concept & text | Emilie Lauwers, live graphics | Ludo Mariën, accordion | Merel De Vilder Robier, performance | Hendrik Collier, light

Shows
Sunday 21.11.2021 – 14.00 & 16.00 AMUZ

21 November, 2021 00:00

‘Bells’ on the piano, fortepiano, harpsichord and Fender Rhodes

The pianist and harpsichordist Anthony Romaniuk moves in a widely varied musical universe scattered with solo recitals, concertos, chamber music and baroque basso continuo, as well as frequent departures from the traditional paths. In Bells, he connects composition and improvisation, alternating effortlessly between four instruments (the piano, fortepiano, harpsichord and Fender Rhodes), blurring the borders between different genres. From 12th to 20th century music, the different styles and periods are interwoven seamlessly into an astonishing whole. Romaniuk’s unique play of sound colours is unmissable.

Programme
Music by H. Purcell, J.-P. Rameau, W.A. Mozart, L. van Beethoven, B. Bartok, D. Sjostakovitsj, Chick Corea and others

Performers
Anthony Romaniuk, harpsichord, fortepiano (replica Walter, 1802), piano (Fazioli, 2017) & Fender Rhodes

When
Thursday 09.12.2021 – 20.00 AMUZ

09 December, 2021 20:00

De Monte with Blue notes

1521 was not just the year of Josquin des Prez’ death. It was also the year in which the polyphonic composer Philippus De Monte was born in Mechelen. The nyckelharpa pioneer and expert Didier François will join ensemble Utopia and the pianist Michel Bisceglia to conjure up a unique symbiosis of Flemish polyphony, jazz and improvisation based on De Monte’s Missa Si ambulavero. Si ambulavero (I wander astray) challenges listeners to engage in inner reflection and seek a calming, meditative moment of quiet within themselves. The Belgian pianist, composer and arranger with Italian roots, Michel Bisceglia, will add contemporary tints to the Missa Si ambulavero. The work has been rewritten, isolating and highlighting the structure of the polyphony and adding a layer of refined jazz. Bisceglia is not aiming for swing jazz or bebop, but rather an elegant touch of jazz to give the polyphonic work a present-day feel.

Programme
P. De Monte: Missa Si ambulavero with new compositions by Michel Bisceglia

Performers
Michaela Riener, mezzo-soprano | Bart Uvyn, Pieter De Praetere, countertenor | Adriaan De Koster, tenor | Lieven Termont, baritone | Guillaume Orly, bass | Thomas Baeté, Clémence Schiltz, viol | Michel Bisceglia, piano | Marc Lehan, drums | Didier François, nyckelharpa & artistic direction

When
Thursday 16.12.2021 – 20.00 AMUZ

16 December, 2021 20:00

Le corps s’en va, le coeur demeure. Leuven Chansonnier III

The music from the Leuven Chansonnier had its world premiere at Laus Polyphoniae in 2018. This little songbook that was discovered by coincidence in 2015 is an important find. It has turned out to be a new source of familiar, sometimes famous compositions, and it adds no less than twelve undiscovered pieces to our late mediaeval musical repertoire.
As well as conducting extensive musicological research, it is essential to release the music from the written scores and bring it back to life in live performances. The Swiss Sollazzo Ensemble led by Anna Danilevskaia is working on a recording of the entire Leuven Chansonnier and the 49 Franco-Flemish songs it contains. This is the third concert programme that the ensemble has dedicated to the book. Here they focus on hope, the heart and the love that remains even when the body is gone.

Programme
J. Ockeghem: La despourveue et la bannye | F. Caron: Le despourveu infortunné | Barbingant: L’omme bany | Anon.: Puisqu’a vous servir me suis mis | H. van Ghizeghem: De touz bien plaine est ma maitresse | Barbingant/J. Ockeghem: Au travail suis que peu de gens me croiraient | W. Frye: Tout a par moy | Anon.: Si vous voullez que je vous ame (unicum) | Anon.: En atendant | Anon.: Ha cueur perdu et desole | A. Busnois: Le corps s’en va et le cuer vous demeure | Anon.: Quant je fus prins au pavillon | Anon.: Vraiz amans (curiosity)

Performers
Carine Tinney, soprano | Andrew Hallock, countertenor | Jonatan Alvarado, tenor | Christoph Sommer, lute | Johanna Bartz, flute | Anna Danilevskaia, vihuela de arco & artistic direction

When
Friday 28.01.2022
20.00 AMUZ

28 January, 2022 20:00