Anaïs Chen, baroque violin after Pietro Guarneri by Daniel Frisch 2013 live recording July 2016 filmed by Nicolas Beaugonin

Ciprian's madrigal "Io canterei d'amor" (1547) is one of my most favorite pieces. Of course its beauty lies in the sublime contrapuntal interwoven texture, but I tried to catch and enhance something of its character as I feel it, ornamenting (making so called diminutions of the plain melody lines) and jumping through all four voices in a way that its structure remains understandable although I play only one voice at a time. On a violin this would have been impossible, but with the viola tenore which is tuned one octave below the violin, here in 465 Hz, I can touch all voices from the luckily rather low soprano line of this madrigal down to some of the bass lines (which I enjoy very much as a violinist :)). Text by Petrarca: Io canterei d'amor si novamente ch'al duro fiancho il dì mille sospiri trarrei per forza, et mille alti desiri racconterei ne la gelata mente; E'l bel viso vedrei cangiar sovente, et bagnar gli occhi, et più pietosi giri far, come suol chi de gli altrui martiri et del suo error quando non val si pente. I would sing of love in so new a way I would draw a thousand sighs from that hard heart, and light a thousand noble desires in that chill mind: and I would see her often change expression, and wet her eyes, and turn more pityingly, like one who, when it's no use, repents of other's suffering and her own error. (translation by A.S. Kline)

The relation of nature, popular music like the Venetian Aria del Tasso (on verses from Torquato Tasso's "Gerusalemme liberata") and "musica artificiosa" were central topics in Tartini's thinking. Furthermore, he tried to imitate vocality as much as possible on the violin, but strangely enough didn't write one single vocal piece saying that he knows that the voice is not like in instrument with a fingerboard. In this video I tried to give some room to these two relations choosing the ambiance and acoustics of the woods and giving some vocality to my interpretation even if there are many improvised ornaments as Tartini might have imagined the performer to do - at least his treatise about ornamentation suggests a very abundant use of them.

Nicola Matteis emigrated as a young virtuoso violinist in the 1670s from the area of Naples to London. Roger North, a contemporary essayist, wrote about him: ‘I remember no Italians till Nicola came, and he lay obscurely in the city; by the favour of a merchant whom he had converted to his profit; his circumstances were low, and it was say'd that he travelled thro' Germany on foot with his violin under a full coat at his back. But his pride and arrogance was incomparable, and if he had not found that easy merchant, he had starved before he could have bin known. He was brought to play afore the King and divers great person, in order to be pensioned, but his manner did not take. Sr R. Lestrage, an exquisite violist, Sr Wm Waldgrave, that did wonders upon the archlieute, and Mr Bridgman, that dealt a thro-base upon an harpsichord, found him out to be a superlative genius, But they were forced with all their eloquence to charme him into a complaisance with the English humour, which was to be easy, free, and familiar, and to let gentlemen, not the best hands, have his company in consorts.'

Musik: Caspar Johannes Walter (Uraufführungen), Claudio Monteverdi, Barbara Strozzi, Benedetto Ferrari, Bartolomeo Barbarino Countertenor: Flavio Ferri-Benedetti Ensemble Il Profondo: Anaïs Chen, Eva Saladin (Violinen), Amélie Chemin (Viola da Gamba), Josías Rodríguez Gándara (Lauten), Johannes Keller (Cembalo) Konzept, Regie: Aliénor Dauchez Bühne: Michael Kleine, Lisa Fütterer Kostüme: Michael Kleine Licht: Ladislav Zajac Dramaturgie: Roland Quitt Übersetzung: Roman Lemberg Regieassistenz: Melchior Hoffmann Bühnenassistenz: Miren Oller Video-Trailer: Christina Voigt, Stephan Talneau, Carlos Vasquez Produktion: Tobias Nussbaumer, Sebastian Solte Bisherige Aufführungen: Radialsystem V, Berlin 14. + 15. + 16. Mai 2016 Gare du Nord - Bahnhof für Neue Musik, Basel 3. + 4. + 5. Juni 2016 Eine Produktion von La Cage in Kooperation mit Il Profondo, Radialsystem V und Gare du Nord - Bahnhof für Neue Musik. Gefördert aus Mitteln des Hauptstadtkulturfonds, durch den Fachausschuss Musik BS/BL, die Sophie und Carl Binding-Stiftung, die Ernst Göhner-Stiftung, die Isaac Dreyfus Bernheim-Stiftung und Migros Kulturprozent. Kompositionsauftrag finanziert von der Ernst von Siemens Musikstiftung.

J.S.Bach Sonate für Violine & Cembalo obbligato in E-Dur, BWV 1016, Allegro Violine: Anaïs Chen / http://www.anais-chen.ch Cembalo: Alexandra Ivanova / http://alexandraivanova.net Video: David Boos / http://david-boos.com Audio: Slava Poprugin / http://steppenwolfstudio.nl CD Release, 8th of June 2018 http://www.c2hamburg.de/shop/de/ALL/J-S-Bach-Sonaten-fuer-Violine-und-Cembalo-BWV-1014-1019.html

Georg Pisendel — Sonata per violino senza basso — Second Movement Performed by Anaïs Chen Sound: Johannes Wallbrecher Visuals: Wishes for Reality Production

Anaïs Chen, Leitung und Violine Anna Romanì und Olivier Collin, Choreographie und Tanz Philipp Berweger, Bühne Dorothée Saladin, Kostüme Jens Seiler, Licht Ensemble Il Profondo Sonoko Asabuki, Violine Amélie Chemin, Viola da Gamba Federico Abraham, Kontrabass Johannes Keller, Cembalo Josías Rodríguez Gándara, Laute

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) Sonate Nr.3 für Violine und Cembalo obbligato in E-dur, BWV 1016 Adagio ma non tanto Violine: Anaïs Chen / http://www.anais-chen.ch Cembalo: Alexandra Ivanova / http://alexandraivanova.net Video: David Boos / http://david-boos.com Audio: Slava Poprugin / http://steppenwolfstudio.nl CD Release, 8th of June 2018 http://www.c2hamburg.de/shop/de/ALL/J-S-Bach-Sonaten-fuer-Violine-und-Cembalo-BWV-1014-1019.html