The Unbearable Lightness of Bohemia
Polyphonic music for ensemble and orchestra
Muffat–Biber
Sirkka-Liisa Kaakinen-Pilch, violin and leader
Finnish Baroque Orchestra
Violin: Anthony Marini, Kaisa Ruotsalainen, Juha-Pekka Koivisto, Tiina Aho-Erola, Viola Räisänen
Viola: Tuula Riisalo (prin.), Laura Kajander
Cello: Jussi Seppänen
Harpsichord: Marianna Henriksson
Violone: Anna Rinta-Rahko
Lute: Eero Palviainen
Oboe: Piia Maunula, Nahoko Kinoshito
Bassoon: Visa Jämsä
prin. = principal
Marianna Henriksson, programme planning
PROGRAMME (in Finnish and in Swedish)
FiBO and the violinist Sirkka-Liisa Kaakinen-Pilch set the table with Bohemian and Austrian delicacies. The music of Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber and Georg Muffat charms with its fantastic qualities, its artful polyphony and its surprising forms.
Biber (1644–1704) was the greatest violin virtuoso of his time. He was born in Bohemia, but he defected to the service of the archbishop of Salzburg while he was on duty visiting a Tyrolean luthier. Muffat (1653–1704) was born in Savoy and studied with Lully in Paris in his teens. Muffat fled from France and the threat of war. He tried his luck in Prague, but settled down as the organist of the archbishop in Salzburg. The two great musicians were never close.
Biber’s compositions were known all over Europe. His polyphonic sonatas (1676) are seldom performed but are well suited for “both altars and halls”. The expression is reminiscent of older polyphony and folk music.
Muffat was given permission to make a journey to Italy in the beginning of the 1680s and while he was in Rome he met Corelli. Delirium amoris (The Delirium of Love, 1701) is a concerto grosso with an orchestration typical of Corelli. The reasons behind the juicy title are unknown. The music of Armonico tributo (1682) is equally both deeply spiritual and gracefully terpsichorean.
Kaakinen-Pilch was concertmaster of the renowned Collegium Vocal Gent for over a decade. She has taught in Finland as well as in Poland, Germany, Norway and Denmark.
The concert in Hämeenlinna is organized in collaboration with the association Musiikkia linnassa (Music at the Castle).
Duration: 1 h 45 min (incl. intermission)
FiBO's artistic planner Marianna Henriksson introduces the concert at the House of Nobility from 6 pm to 6.30 pm.