We continue our series on the 2002 Bloomington Early Music Festival with part two of the festival's highlights.
Hailing from San Fransisco, Ensemble Mirable is cellist Joanna Blendulf and harpsichordist Junghae Kim. They were joined by violinists Allison Edberg and Cynthia Miller, and countertenor Jay White of Chanticleer in a concert alternating between instrumental music and cantatas of Giovanni Bononcini and Georg Frideric Handel, including Handel's "Mi Palpita al cor."
Composer Jean Zewalt Triemer was born in Germany and moved to Paris to study with French composer Boismortier. Treimer wrote the premier method book for cello along with six wonderful cello sonatas. Sonata II for solo cello and basso continuo was featured by Ensemble Mirable in the instrumental portion of their concert.
Virtuoso violinist and guitarist Nicola Matteis emigrated to England from Italy around 1670 and quickly gained notoriety for his arrogance. The False Ensemble featured Mattei's music, along with the music of his son, also named Nicola Matteis in their concert entitled "Airs for the Drunken Footmen." The False Ensemble is Daniel Zuluaga, guitar, Petra Burman, theorbo, included in this concert, guest tenor Wolodymyr Smishkewych.
From the fanatic to the fantastic, ensemble Music of the Spheres centered their concert, "The Fantastics," on the " Stylus Phantasticus," which featured music by one of its foremost composers, Giovanni Antonio Pandolfini. Music of the Spheres is violinist Jeanne Johnson-Watkins and harpsichordist Yuko Tanaka.
Next Harmonia we bring you the third part of our highlights series from the 2002 Bloomington Early Music Festival.