“… Under Pluhar’s fine direction, the performers presented a repertoire that combined more conventional pieces (Romanescas or Toccata L’Arpeggiata), in which they played with those generous harmonic bass lines, with traditional Hispano-American songs such as El curruchá and Pajarillo verde. Performing with great ease and a strong sense of rapport, they infused the utmost simplicity of the ostinatos with brilliance and colour, delighting in an attractive sonority and a constantly vibrant pulse that invited the audience to dance…”
Jonathan Mallada Álvarez
November 8, 2023
L’Arpeggiata brings together artists from diverse musical backgrounds, based in Europe and around the world, around project-programs skillfully devised by Christina Pluhar, grounded in her musicological research, her encounters, her curiosity, and her immense talent. The ensemble’s sound, built upon plucked strings, is immediately recognizable.
From its beginnings, L’Arpeggiata has sought to explore the rich yet little-known repertoire of early Baroque composers from Rome, Naples, and Spain. The guiding principles of the ensemble are instrumental improvisation and research into historical instruments in the purest Baroque tradition, as well as the creation and staging of event-performances. In this way, the group promotes encounters between music and singing with other Baroque disciplines—inseparable in their time—such as dance and theatre, while also opening itself to diverse musical genres such as jazz and traditional music.
True invitations to reverie, L’Arpeggiata’s programs reconnect with surprise and the unexpected, restoring to the Baroque its original meaning: an irregular pearl (16th century), an astonishing element (18th century).
The works of the Baroque era offer L’Arpeggiata a space of freedom where local and international artists flourish, where genres and traditions merge, turning each concert into a unique encounter.
L’Arpeggiata regularly collaborates with renowned soloists from the world of Baroque music (Philippe Jaroussky, Nuria Rial, Raquel Andueza, Luciana Mancini, Véronique Gens, Stéphanie d’Oustrac, Cyril Auvity, Emiliano Gonzales-Toro, Dominique Visse, João Fernandes, etc.), as well as from traditional music (Lucilla Galeazzi, Vincenzo Capezzuto, Ensemble “Barbara Furtuna”, Misia…), or other genres such as jazz and flamenco (Gianluigi Trovesi, Pepe Habichuela).
Since its creation, the ensemble has performed at many of Europe’s most prestigious festivals and concert halls — Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Wigmore Hall London,
Tonhalle Zürich, Alte Oper Frankfurt, Festival de Saint-Denis, Festival de Sablé-sur-Sarthe, Utrecht Oude Muziek, Ambronay Festival, Festival de Musique Baroque de Pontoise, Musikfestspiele Potsdam Sanssouci, Ruhrtriennale, Ludwigsburger Schlossfestspiele, Opéra de Bordeaux, Vredenburg Centre Utrecht, Philharmonie Köln — and worldwide: Carnegie Hall New York, Sydney City Recital Hall, Brisbane Festival, Festival Internacional Cervantino de Guanajuato, Tokyo Metropolitan Art Space, Karura Hall, among others.
L’Arpeggiata was ensemble-in-residence in 2012 and 2013 at Carnegie Hall (New York), Wigmore Hall (London), and Théâtre de Poissy (France).
In June 2011, the ensemble premiered the little-known opera Il Paride (1662) by Giovanni Andrea Bontempi at the Musikfestspiele Potsdam Sanssouci, in a staging by Christoph von Bernuth. The opera was revived in August 2012 at the Innsbrucker Festwochen der Alten Musik.
In France and abroad, L’Arpeggiata’s discography has been unanimously and continuously praised by critics and audiences alike.
Winner of the Echo Klassik Preis in 2009, 2010, and 2011 in Germany, the Edison Prize in the Netherlands (2009), and the VSCD Muziekprijs in 2008, L’Arpeggiata has been consistently acclaimed for its rich discography — from its early albums with Alpha (La Villanella, Homo fugit velut umbra, La Tarantella, All’Improvviso, Rappresentatione di Anima, et di Corpo), then with Naïve (Los Impossibles), to its recent collaboration with EMI/Virgin Classics (Teatro d’Amore, Via Crucis, Monteverdi Vespro della Beata Vergine). The ensemble has received numerous distinctions, including 10 de Classica Répertoire, Cannes Classical Awards, Timbre de Platine from L’Opéra International, BBC Music Magazine’s Disc of the Month, Prix Exellentia Pizzicato, and ffff Télérama.
Their latest album, Los Pájaros Perdidos (released January 2012), is dedicated to traditional Latin American music. In March 2013, Virgin Classics released Mediterráneo, recorded with fado star Mísia.
Premiered in March 2011, the film Tous les soleils, directed by writer Philippe Claudel, was inspired by the music of L’Arpeggiata’s album La Tarantella. Two tracks from the album were re-recorded for the film, featuring the voice of lead actor Stefano Accorsi.
L’Arpeggiata receives support from the Ministry of Culture – DRAC Île-de-France, the Regional Council of Île-de-France, and the Orange Foundation.
Its projects have also received assistance from Onda, Spedidam, Adami, and Culturesfrance.
L’Arpeggiata is a member of Fevis (Fédération des Ensembles Vocaux et Instrumentaux Spécialisés) and PROFEDIM (Union of Independent Producers, Festivals, Ensembles, and Music Distributors).
