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Based in the historic city of Trondheim in Norway, the young ensemble Trondheim Barokk, founded by Martin Wåhlberg and Erik Skanke Høsøien, brings together a whole generation of musicians, principally Norwegian, graduates of the finest European institutions, with the aim of rediscovering forgotten pieces and musical practices corresponding to the aesthetics of the 17th and 18th centuries. In basing its approach on the personal qualities of each musician, the ensemble brings back to life the dimension at once individual and collective that was characteristic of musical practice in the Baroque period. Trondheim Barokk has performed in Norway and abroad, and now appears with increasing regularity in festival programmes. In this respect, the year 2014 marked a decisive moment for the ensemble, which featured on the programme of some of the most prestigious Norwegian festivals, among them the Bodø Festival, the Oslo Chamber Music Festival and the Røros Winter Chamber Music Festival. Trondheim Barokk also appeared in 2014 in a series of concerts organised by Nidaros Cathedral in Trondheim featuring great works from the sacred repertory, such as J.S. Bach's Magnificat, (BWV 243), Charpentier’s Te Deum and W.A. Mozart'’s C minor Mass, with the contribution of prestigious guest conductors including Andrew Parrott and Enrico Onofri.
But its mission does not end there, for the group is strongly committed to a programme of diffusion of early music and period instruments in Norway, thus playing a pioneering role in the development of the teaching of these disciplines in the country. This is the purpose of its collaboration, begun two years ago, with the Department of Music of the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) in Trondheim, where it has instituted classes in Baroque instruments in order to introduce newly trained young musicians into the ensemble.
Finally, recordings have crowned these efforts. Although the ensemble’s first disc, devoted to the music of the Norwegian composer Georg von Bertouch, was issued by a Norwegian label, it will be recalled that it was on K617 - the label of the Couvent de Saint Ulrich - that it released two years ago ‘Le Roman des Lumières’, recorded in the Chapelle des Verriers, which is now followed by this live recording of a concert at Saint Martin de Hoff. |
