Frescobaldi:
Canzona no. 4 (violin, cello, chitarrone)

Castello:
Sonata seconda (a sopran solo) (violin, chitarrone) from ‘Sonatae Concertate in Stil Moderno’ (1629)
Sonata ottava (violin, chitarrone) from ‘Sonatae Concertate in Stil Moderno’ (1629)

Howet:
Fantasie (renaissance lute solo)

Gabrielli:
Sonata in G (cello, chitarrone)

Bertali:
Sonata a 2 (violin, cello, chitarrone)

Marini:
Romanesca per violino solo e basso se piace (violin, cello, chitarrone)

Rosenmüller:
Sonata no. III a 2 in d (violin, cello, chitarrone)

Dowland:
Lachrimae (renaissance lute solo)

Cima:
Sonata per il violino (violin, cello, chitarrone) from ‘Concerti ecclesiastici’

Vivaldi:
Sonata RV 44 (cello, chitarrone)

Corelli:
Sonata no. 12 - La Follia (violin, cello, chitarrone)

“The Italian feeling,” they call it. The age of the architecture, the public squares, the light, the romance of Venice, Florence, Rome and Naples. The sensation is very much alive in the members of the Leupold Trio. The music of that time, the Mediterranean. There lies the passion of these musicians, and they recover something in it that had been lost.

The music editions and manuscripts the musicians sort through seem to exude an energetic, spontaneous and dynamic atmosphere. They trace out a thrilling process of trial and error, experimenting, varying, first one way, then another. When it clicks, they feel it immediately. Sören Leupold is their trusted guide and conscience. This explorer of the lute and chitarrone repertory remains immersed in the world of the Renaissance and Baroque.

The music on this CD begins around 1600. “We play early pieces by Cima and Frescobaldi, slightly later music by Marini and Castello, and Bertali is later yet. We reach the Baroque with Corelli and Vivaldi,” Wouter Mijnders and Eva explain. “Sören adapts beautifully, now and then playing alla guitarra in the late pieces, for example. At other times, the Neapolitan and Venetian influences can be heard in the chitarrone playing. Suddenly that instrument gives a totally different colour, and you get more the effect of the guitar, which was also so popular then.”

Together, the trio discovered a gaping hole in our harpsichord-dominated early music practice. Violin or cello sonatas with a chitarrone accompanying, who does that? Nobody. But why not? And what is so “authentic” about all of those performances with harpsichord, anyway? The wealthier the noble court, obviously, the wealthier the estate and the more comprehensive the instrument collection and thus instrumental colors. On a visit to Count Unico Wilhelm van Wassenaer of Delden at Twickel Castle, you would no doubt find an excellent harpsichord (not to mention fantastically luxurious sanitary facilities made of Delft Blue and a superior kitchen in the cellar). But was it like that everywhere? Wouter: “You can imagine that with a chitarrone or lute, you were much more flexible as a musician on tour in those days. You could also play in a pub, then, or a coffeehouse where there was no harpsichord at the moment. Or maybe it had one, but all the strings were broken. Those instruments weren’t always in playing condition.” You played with whoever happened to be there. “Musicians were very flexible. You can feel it just in the character of some pieces. The gypsy life.” (source; linernotes of this cd by Huib Ramaer

ARTIST BACKGROUND The Leupold Trio made its debut in 2003 at the International Guitar Festival ‘SaitenSprünge’ in Bad Aibling (Germany) and was an immediate hit. The trio is made up of members from the Combattimento Consort Amsterdam. The Leupold Trio performed in prestigious concert venues, like the Concertgebouw (Amsterdam) as well as numerous museums, historic manor houses, picturesque churches and castles. They appeared with great success on the Ravello Festival 2009 (on the Amalfi coast, Italy), in Granada (Spain) and in Algeria.

Sören Leupold studied in Osnabrück and Cologne. He can be heard playing the chitarrone, Baroque lute and guitar with some of the leading early music ensembles such as Cantus Cöln, Musica Antiqua Köln, Collegium Vocale Gent and La Fenice in Germany, The Netherlands, Flanders and England. The violinist Eva Stegeman is concertmaster of Sinfonia Rotterdam and director of the European Union Chamber Orchestra, which she conducts from her first-seat position. In 2003, she founded the annual International Chamber Music Festival The Hague, of which she is artistic leader. Stegeman plays a late 17th-century violin made by Giovanni Battista Rogeri (Brescia). Wouter Mijnders is at home with the entire cello repertoire, from the Baroque to the present day. He has made a specialty of playing the violoncello piccolo and recorded with the Combattimento Consort Amsterdam the first CD of the unique Concerto in C for violoncello piccolo by Sammartini. With the bowed and plucked strings, these style-conscious musicians perform the most beautiful of the well-known and most exciting of the lesser known works of the 17th and 18th centuries. ‘Absolute harmony and perfect magic in sound,’ wrote the Oberbayerisches Volksblatt in 2004. ‘A veritable feast for the senses.’