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The award-winning baroque music ensemble La Serenissima present a unique festival this summer in the elegant surroundings of Hintlesham Hall, which brings together the music and history of England, Vienna and Venice in the early 18th century. This elegant house was rebuilt in the 1570s as the home of the Timperleys, a family of Catholic gentry. A century later, in the shadow of the Glorious Revolution, the widow of a young Henry Timperley, (Susannah, née Sparrow), married the son of an Italian violinist and left Suffolk for London and Vienna. Her new husband, Nicola Matteis the Younger, became an accomplished violinist and composer, who crossed paths with Purcell and Vivaldi during a varied career. We will enjoy three private concerts which trace their fascinating journey, as well as enjoying the landscape of Suffolk which inspired Constable and Gainsborough, whose house we will visit, having recently reopened after redevelopment as a National Centre for Art dedicated to his life and work.
Photo credit: Lia Vittone
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La Serenissima is a group of 12 musicians who regularly play together in varying formations, performing works by an astonishing number of composers with strong links to 18th-century Venice, as well as German composers from the period.
Founded in 1994 by the violinist Adrian Chandler, while he was still a student at the Royal College of Music, they are now at the forefront of baroque music under his expert direction. His Excellency the Ambassador of Italy to the United Kingdom is the ensemble’s patron. The ensemble has given recent performances at St Martin-in-the-Fields and with Longborough Festival Opera. During 2023/24 will give a series of residency concerts at Wigmore Hall. Their 2015 recording of Vivaldi's The Four Seasons has been streamed over 100 millions times, perhaps the highest streamed recording to date.
Inspired by the career and influences of Nicola Matteis the Younger, La Serenissima will perform a series of concerts following his musical journey from London to Vienna and on to Venice by way of his contemporary Antonio Vivaldi. Highlights will include a number of works by Henry Purcell, as well as John Blow, Giorgio Gentili and of course Nicola Matteis the Younger himself. We will conclude with a full performance of Antonio Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons, featuring a 12-instrument ensemble of strings and harpsichord.
Concert 1: Born in London
Henry Purcell (1659-1695): Sonata for 2 violins & continuo
Nicola Matteis the Younger (c1677 – 1737): Sonata for violin & continuo
Henry Purcell: Sonata for harpsichord
Nicola Matteis the Elder (? – after 1713): Sonata for violin & continuo
John Blow (1649-1708): Sonata for 2 violins & continuo
Concert 2: From London to Vienna
John Blow: Chaconne in G
Giorgio Gentili (1671 – 1751): Concerto a 4, Opus 6
Nicola Matteis the Younger: Concerto in B♭
Johann Joseph Fux (c1660 - 1741): Sonata for 3 violins
Antonio Vivaldi (1678 - 1741): Concerto Il Favorito for violin, strings & continuo in E, RV 277, Op 11/2
Concert 3: Matteis & Vivaldi
Antonio Caldara (1670 – 1736): Sinfonia to La Verità nell’Inganno
Nicola Matteis the Younger: Ballo to La Verità nell’Inganno
Antonio Vivaldi: Le Quattro Stagioni - 4 Concertos for violin, strings & continuo in E, g, F & f, RV 269, 315, 293, 297
Ensemble
La Serenissima is a group of 12 musicians who regularly play together in varying formations, performing works by an astonishing number of composers with strong links to 18th-century Venice, as well as German composers from the period.
Founded in 1994 by the violinist Adrian Chandler, while he was still a student at the Royal College of Music, they are now at the forefront of baroque music under his expert direction. His Excellency the Ambassador of Italy to the United Kingdom is the ensemble’s patron. The ensemble has given recent performances at St Martin-in-the-Fields and with Longborough Festival Opera. During 2023/24 will give a series of residency concerts at Wigmore Hall. Their 2015 recording of Vivaldi's The Four Seasons has been streamed over 100 millions times, perhaps the highest streamed recording to date.
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