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The ensemble Le Stagioni was created in 2017: it gathers together experienced young musicians, who all lead international careers both as soloists and with the great European early music ensembles. They are united by a common desire to use their experience in a fresh new approach to performing music on period instruments. Led by the harpsichordist Paolo Zanzu, the ensemble can vary in form and size, with vocal music as a focal point. The repertoire of Le Stagioni is centred around the great works of the 18th and 19th centuries.
From the 2018-2019 season onwards Le Stagioni has been in residence at the Théâtre du Rempart, in Semur-en-Auxois in Burgundy, where they give several concerts, with the support of the City of Semur-en-Auxois and the Côte-d’Or County Council.
The Musical Project
Founding a new orchestra addresses the need to create a new sound, a new aesthetic and a new musical universe. The repertoire of Le Stagioni is centred around the 18th-century European High Baroque, with George Frideric Handel at its core: a composer who, more than any of his contemporaries, was able to unify and fuse the musical styles and aesthetics of his time. G.F. Handel is a point of arrival.
But he also embodies a starting point. New currents took shape during the middle of the century all over Europe, from Naples to Dresden. European music departed from Baroque conventions and touched on new ground. New musical forms, such as the symphony, began to emerge and spread throughout the continent. Over a short period of time, the musical identity of Europe as a whole underwent a radical transformation.
Only a few decades of experiments and innovations separate Handel from Mozart: an indirect lineage, but one which, through Leo, Cimarosa, Sammartini and Johann Christian Bach, never loses its consistency in both structure and sound. Likewise, there is a continuity between the orchestra of G.F. Handel, that of Italian composers, and that of Haydn, W.A. Mozart and the young L.v. Beethoven.
Rediscovering this forgotten thread, reinventing a multi-faceted and malleable sound, finding a unique and original identity, building an orchestra grounded in the work of G.F. Handel and the Italian Baroque but that reaches out to Viennese classicism: this is the challenge and artistic goal of Le Stagioni.
Philosophy
Thorough musicological research is the foundation of the work of Le Stagioni. The ensemble works with experts in the relevant repertoire to ensure the musicological accuracy of their different programmes, supported by the newest editorial work, often undertaken by the musicians themselves. The ensemble has established the three following principles for performing works in an historically informed manner:
• Le Stagioni respect the integrity of each work: the works will not be cut or rearranged beyond what is documented in historical sources relating to different versions, etc.
• Le Stagioni respect the music’s original instrumentation and orchestral forces, and their performances will reflect the proportions of historical orchestras (which can vary according to national performance traditions - for example, there was a more numerous cello section in France; the Italians used more double-basses; the Germans used more oboes).
• Le Stagioni respect the instrumentation of the basso continuo and strive to realise it in the most historically accurate manner possible. |
