Salsa Baroque Ensemble Caprice & Matthias Maute

• Anonymous:
• 1 Collection Flores de música, 1706-1709 / Chacona 02:39
• 2 Hanacpachap cussicuinin 03:47
• 3 Collection Flores de música, 1706-1709 / Differenzias sobre la Gayta 04:17
• Gaspar Fernandes (1566 - 1629):
• 4 Tleycantimo choquiliya 03:37
• Anonymous:
• 5 Collection Flores de música, 1706-1709 / Xácara 02:03
• Juan de Araujo (1646 - 1712):
• 6 Los coflades de la estleya 04:20
• Anonymous:
• 7 Collection Flores de música, 1706-1709 / Pasacalles de 2o tono 02:29
• Henry de Bailly (1590 - 1637):
• 8 Yo soy la locura (excerpt from Ballet de la follie) 04:57
• Domenico Zipoli (1688 - 1726): Pastorale
• 9 Pastorale / I. Allegro 01:14
• 10 Pastorale / II. Piva 00:24
• 11 Pastorale / III. Pastorale 01:20
• Anonymous:
• 12 Collection Truxillo del Perú II, c. 1780 02:23
• Domenico Zipoli: Battalia imperiale
• 13 Battalia imperiale / I. Battalia imperiale 01:11
• 14 Battalia imperiale / II. Battalia dolorosa 01:00
• 15 Battalia imperiale / III. Battalia furiosa 01:22
• Antonio de Salazar (1889 - 1970):
• 16 Tarará 01:30
• Anonymous:
• 17 Collection Flores de música, 1706-1709 / Tremblante estilo italiano 03:06
• Gaspar Fernandes:
• 18 Xicochi Conetzintle 02:05
• Santiago de Murcia:
• 19 Marizapalos 03:34
• 20 La Jotta 03:49
• Anonymous:
• 21 Collection Flores de música, 1706-1709 / Discurso con ecos 06:39
• Juan García de Zéspedes (1619 - 1678):
• 22 Convidando está la noche 03:29
• Total Runtime 01:01:15

Info for Salsa Baroque

Salsa is the Spanish word for sauce, designating at the same time a dance as well as a family of musical genres in Latin-American music. It is this latter meaning and its ancient roots that, together with a bit of humour, Ensemble Caprice has taken to give the title Salsa baroque to his project.

Under the artistic direction of Matthias Maute and Sophie Lariviere, Ensemble Caprice is renowned for its innovative interpretations of baroque music. Ensemble Caprice's CD Gloria! Vivaldi's Angels (Analekta) won a prestigious Juno Award in 2009.

One can describe baroque music of Latin America as a fusion of harmonies and rhythms of Europe and Africa blended with Amerindian nuances and styles. This unique fusion dates back to the 16th century and gave rise to a complex and fascinating multitude of musical forms resulting in a great variety of instrumentations, structures, and rhythmic and melodic phrasing.

Salsa is the Spanish word for sauce, designating at the same time a dance as well as a family of musical genres in Latin-American music. It is this latter meaning and its ancient roots that, together with a bit of humour, we have taken to give the title Salsa baroque to our project. Despite the human and political tragedies surrounding the colonization of the South-American continent, the multipolar musical culture that resulted is distinguished by its fiery spirit and passion: here is music with a unique character that enriches the repertoire of the 17th century with refreshing novelties.

"the pieces the Ensemble Caprice has to offer -- traditional as well as classical -- are jewels" (The New York Times)

"Salsa Baroque is not one of the various fusions of salsa and classical music that have come on the market, but instead a new exploration of the African- and Amerind-influenced music of the Spanish colonial New World, this one from the Montreal historical-instrument group Ensemble Caprice and its recorder player/director, Matthias Maute. This is the territory covered by Jordi Savall's Folías Criollas and Danzas y Villancicos Criollas albums, as well as various other releases by groups specializing in Iberian music; Ensemble Caprice, though oriented toward the Baroque in general, has not up to now been part of this group. The results are mixed but worthwhile for those whose attention has been snared by this fascinating repertory. The best news is the inclusion of works by a composer, Gaspar Fernandes, whom Savall and his circle haven't much examined, although more than 250 of his pieces survive. There are also some instrumental pieces from the Spanish keyboard collection Flores de música; these are not directly related to the repertory at hand but fit well with it, and it's reasonable to suppose that music of this kind might have been sent to the New World. The two Fernandes works included, one of them a cradle song, are in Nahuatl, and the anonymous hymn Hanacpachap cussicuinin, published in 1631 in Peru and presumably in Quechua, also reflects not just Native American influence but an effort to meet Native Americans musically on their own terms. There is a mixture of vocal and instrumental pieces, and some of the latter contain efforts to duplicate the effect of African polyrhythms. Santiago de Murcia, whose vocal pieces have appeared on Savall's recordings, is here represented by rhythmically tricky instrumental works, one in the instrumental-vocal genre known as Marizápalos (misspelled in two different ways in the booklet). These performances don't have the zip of Savall's, with their active and improvising battery of percussion instruments. A bigger disadvantage is the absence of texts for the vocal works, either in the booklet or online; they are essential for an understanding of what might be called the sexual-sacred assault of the Spanish upon Native America. This recording does not have the riotous blasts of color that this music can deliver when really brought to life, but it aids in the ongoing exploration of a vital repertory." (James Manheim, AMG)

Ensemble Caprice
Matthias Maute, flute, direction

Ensemble Caprice
a baroque ensemble which performs on period instruments, was founded by acclaimed conductor, composer and recorder soloist Matthias Maute and has become known for its innovative and adventuresome approach to an increasingly expanding musical repertoire. In addition to its series of concerts in Montreal, the group tours extensively, giving dozens of concerts in Canada, the USA, Europe, and even Asia. The ensemble is a regular guest at many prestigious European festivals: the Lufthansa Festival of Baroque Music in London, the Bruges (Belgium) and Utrecht (Netherlands) festivals, the Felicja Blumenthal International Music Festival in Tel Aviv; and in Germany, the Musikfestspiele Potsdam Sanssouci, the Regensburg Early Music Festival, the Händel-Festspele in Halle, and the Stockstadt festival. In November 2009, the New York Times published a lengthy article hailing the musicians’ innovative and refreshing approach, praising them as “imaginative, even powerful; and the playing is top-flight”.

The Ensemble’s recording activity is every bit as impressive. Their albums have gained many honours and much critical acclaim. The CD Gloria! Vivaldi and his Angels received a JUNO Award and three prestigious Prix Opus awards. Ensemble Caprice was also recognized for its artistic approach and the quality of its performances by being selected “People’s choice” and was a finalist in the music category for the Montreal Arts Council’s Grand Prix de Montréal. The group also earned a nomination for the Echo Klassic award in Germany and the acclaimed publication Gramophone magazine chose the group’s CD Telemann and The Baroque Gypsies as one of its recommended recordings. Ensemble Caprice produces videos for the website noncerto which promote classical music in a new way.

Matthias Maute
JUNO Award winning conductor, composer, recorder and flute soloist Matthias Maute has achieved an international reputation. Impressed by his artistic approach, The New York Times described the orchestra he conducts, Ensemble Caprice, as being “an ensemble that leads the listener to rehear the world”. He regularly appears at major festivals. In Canada he has performed at the Ottawa International Chamber Music Festival, the Festival international du Domaine Forget and the Elora Festival among others.

Maute’s recording of Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos juxtaposed with (his own orchestral arrangements of) Preludes from Shostakovich’s Op. 87 was hailed by The New Yorker’s Alex Ross as standing out “for its fleet, characterful approach” and “its fresh, vibrant colors”. Matthias Maute’s compositions are published by Breitkopf & Härtel, Amadeus, Moeck and Carus. His compositions are featured in numerous videos on the noncerto website. In 2014 and 2015, Maute’s 1st Violin Concerto was performed by soloist Mark Fewer and the St. John’s Symphony as well as by I Musici de Montréal. Matthias Maute has made some twenty recordings. He currently teaches in Montreal at both the Université de Montréal and McGill University.

Sophie Larivière
has participated in the International Recorder Symposium in Stuttgart, the Recorder Series in Schwelm, and the Recorder Festival of Stockstadt in Germany. She has been a member of Ensemble Caprice since 1997 and is the artistic co-director. In this function, she has contributed to the enrichment of the Ensemble, leading audiences to musical discoveries featuring both virtuosity and artistry. She has also been a guest performer with several early music ensembles, including Arion, Le Concert Spirituel, Les Idées Heureuses, Les Violons du Roy, Rebel, Le Studio de Musique Ancienne de Montréal, the New York Collegium and the Theatre of Early Music. In 2003 and 2004, under Jeunesses Musicales du Canada’s tutelage, Larivière took part in some 30 concerts throughout Quebec, Ontario and New Brunswick. In June 2004, with Ensemble Caprice, she performed for the first time in Austria, and few months later took part in a series of concerts at the Boston Early Music Festival. In the fall of 2006, she made her debut in Israel with the Ensemble Caprice in a series of concerts in Tel Aviv and Yehiam.

With Le Concert Spirituel (Paris), she took part in an American tour that led her to Detroit, Chicago and Washington. She has performed under such renown conductors as Andrew Parrott, Hervé Niquet, Philipp Picket, Jaap ter Linden and Barthold Kuijken, She is second traverso of the REBEL Baroque Orchestra in New York under the direction of Owen Burdick. She has recorded with Ensemble Caprice, Arion, Rebel, the Theatre of Early Music, and the Violons du Roy.

This album contains no booklet.