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Founded in 2010 by Nicolas Penel (violin), Laurent Galliano (viola) and Mathieu Rouquié (cello), Ensemble Fratres then hosts Flavio Losco (violin), Hanspeter Oggier (pan flute), Maxime Alliot (violin), Cyprien Busolini (viola), Benoit Beratto (double-bass) and Pierre-Louis Rétat (keyboards). The ensemble works with the luthier and bow maker Luc Breton, whose work and knowledge forge homogeneity of sound and artistic taste strongly anchored in the traditions of eearly music.
With over 250 concerts to its credit, Ensemble Fratres book a gripping music. Their performances reflect an optimistic and amazed message to the attention of a wide range of music lovers. The ensemble has appeared at Flanders Festival (Bruges, Maasmechelen, Antwerp), Festival AMUZ (complete quintets for two cellos by Luigi Boccherini, Antwerp, 2010), Printemps des Arts (Nantes), Fondation Concert Spirituel (Warsaw, Poland), RadialSystem V (Berlin), Thüringer Bachwochen (Erfurt), Händel Festspiele (program combines early music and electroacoustic music, Halle (Saale), 2011). Named Ensemble in Residence of the musical season Amarcordes (Geneva, Switzerland), The ensemble held many concerts between 2010 and 2014, particularly with the Bach Filiation project (full concertante works of J.S. Bach).
Ensemble Fratres performs with renowned musicians such as Marie-Claude Chappuis, María Espada, Anna Stolarczyk, Nicolau De Figueiredo, Vittorio Ghielmi, Stephan Imboden, Margret Köll, Barthold Kuijken, Roberta Mameli, Carlos Mena, Michael Nowak, Dorothee Oberlinger, Luca Pianca and Ensemble Zefiro (Director: Alfredo Bernardini).
In 2013, Hanspeter Oggier (pan flute) invited the Ensemble Fratres to join his new recording project dedicated to the flute concertos of Antonio Vivaldi and G .P. Telemann. The first installment was published in 2015 under the Brilliant Classics label, while a second will be released under the same label in December 2016. The first album 100% Ensemble Fratres is planned for release in 2017, and includes two quintets with two violas by W.A. Mozart.
Ensemble Fratres adapts in varying formations, from string trio to pre-romantic orchestra. In its repertoire, Baroque works, and also interpretations of Classical and Romantic works, both in chamber music in orchestral arrangement: Giovanni Battista Pergolesi (Stabat Mater), Purcell (Dido & Aeneas, Abdelazer, Suite, Fantaisies) Georg Philipp Telemann (Suites), J.S. Bach (Concerti, Mass in B minor BWV 232, Matthäus-Passion BWV 244, Johannes-Passion BWV 245, Weihnachts-Oratorium BWV 248), Antonio Vivaldi (Concerti, Stabat Mater, The Four Seasons), George Frideric Handel (Messiah), Haydn (trios and string quartets, oratorio The Creation), Boccherini (quintets, Stabat Mater), W.A. Mozart (Divertimento trio, quintet, Requiem, Coronation Mass), Schubert (quintet, octet, Mass in Eb), Johannes Brahms (sextet) and Jean Cras (string trio).
Ensemble Fratres won First Prize at Chamber Music Competition of the l'Association des Amis et Anciens Élèves du Conservatoire Supérieur de Musique de Genève (2005), diploma from the Conservatoire Supérieur de Musique de Genève (string quartet class of Gabor Takacs-agy, 2006), First prizeat the Concours de musique de chambre Musica Antiqua de Bruges (2006) and Honorary Diploma at the International chamber music competition of "Joseph Joachim" in Weimar (2005). |
