Floridante – baroque made in Estonia

In the solemn atmosphere of Tallinn St. Nicholas chruch, the Estonian baroque ensemble Floridante will perform a unique program of French composers and J. S. Bach.

This is a mixture of masterpieces of an origin of generations long before our time, once again made audible on historical instruments such as gut-stringed violin, viola da gamba or theorbo, wooden transverse flute, Estonian kannel, and the harpsichord. Among others, rarely performed pieces by J. Ch de Chambonnieres, one of the pioneers of the 17th century French harpsichord school, will sound under the vaults of the St. Antonius’ chapel.

Ensemble Floridante:

Mari-Liis Vihermäe – traverso
Meelis Orgse – baroque violin
Anna-Liisa Eller – Estonian kannel
Kristo Käo – theorbo
Tõnu Jõesaar – viola da gamba
Saale Fischer – harpsichord

Free entrance! The concert is at 7pm

Baroque ensemble Floridante was founded in Tallinn in early 2014 and has quickly gained a prominent position in the Estonian early / classical music scene. „Sunshine in the Estonian baroque sky“ and „Masters of the early music“ has declared Estonian major cultural magazine „Sirp“ in the first concert reviews regarding Floridante.

Initiated by baroque violinist Meelis Orgse and harpsichordist Saale Fischer, Floridante is a flexible compilation of instrumentalists, including Kristo Käo (theorbo/baroque guitar), Tõnu Jõesaar (baroque cello/viola da gamba), Mari-Liis Vihermäe (traverso), and Ele Raik (baroque oboe) as its core members. For several projects, Floridante has engaged vocalists such as Ivo Posti (counter tenor), Maria Valdmaa (soprano), Marta Paklar (soprano), Kai Kallastu (soprano).

Floridante’s musicians have graduated from the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre and furthered their studies in historical performance practice at the Sibelius Academy of Helsinki (FI), music universities of Trossingen and Bremen (DE), Conservatoire Supérior de Paris (FR), and in numerous master classes.

Floridante has been performing at numerous major Estonian festivals and concert series. Additionally, Floridante was honoured to be selected to MA Festival Brugge (2016) and Utrecht Early Music Festival (2015, 2016) Fringe concerts.

Though named after G. F. Händels opera, Floridante’s repertoire reaches beyond German high baroque, from ’nuove musiche’ to early romanticisim, often including Italian seicento with its fabulous music by C. Monteverdi, F. Caccini, B. Strozzi, B. Ferrari, D. Castello, B. Castaldi, G. B. Cima, G. Frescobaldi etc.

www.facebook.com/Floridante