The June recital of ICR's popular 'Enescu Concerts' Series, featuring viola da gamba player Anca Iarosevici and classic guitarist Bogdan Mihăilescu, exalts the marvellous baroque tradition of the 17th and 18th centuries. The event offers a double premiere: the first-time performance in London of George Enescu's 'Andante Religioso', transcribed for two instruments as a commission of the Romanian Cultural Institute, and of the mysterious 'Codex Cajoni' (Songs and Dances from the 17th century) by Ioan Caianu (1629-1687), a Transylvanian monk born in Wallachia. The programme also features some of the most memorable works by Antonio Vivaldi, Robert de Visee, Henry Purcell and Georg Friedrich Handel.
Born in Cluj to a family of musicians, Anca Iarosevici graduated cello at the Music University in Bucharest under the guidance of her father, famous cellist George Iarosevici. In 1974 she started to study viola da gamba and soon became a proficient player, able to master the instrument in all its forms: tenor, alto and discant. In 1985 she became a member of 'Consortium Violae' chamber ensemble, beginning a long term collaboration with llse Maria Reich (organ, harpsichord) and Robert Dumitrescu (viola da gamba, lute). The three musicians committed to promote old music created together Trio 'Ricercare', a platform for their artistic ideas. In 1990 Anca Iarosevici and soprano Georgeta Stoleriu, harpsichord player Verona Maie and Robert Dumitrescu founded 'The Ancient Music Studio' chamber ensemble and toured all over Europe and North America. With the same ensemble, Anca Iarosevici participated in numerous editions of the George Enescu International Festival, but also at Festivals in Valencia and Santander. 'The Ancient Music Studio' did a lot of recording for the radio and, in 1995, under the auspices of UNESCO, the group released a CD of Elizabethan and old Romanian music. Anca Iarosevici has been regular collaborator of the Bucharest Philharmonic Orchestra, The Radio National Orchestra and the Radio Chamber Orchestra, and is playing on an especially rare instrument made in Germany after a 17th century model. This is the first instrument of its kind in Romania and was owned initially by Anca Iarosevici's father, the illustrious Professor George Iarosevici.
Bogdan Mihăilescu studied violin at the Bucharest Music College and classical guitar at Bucharest Arts College, with Professor Adrian Ionescu, and at Cluj Music School, with Professor Valentin Fărcaş. In 1984, having won the National Classical Guitar Competition in Sinaia, he started an intense performing and teaching activity in Romania, Germany, South Africa and Great Britain. Between 1997-2006, the musician lived in London, where he studied new guitar techniques with Professors Gary Ryan and Carlos Bonell and regularly took master classes at the Royal Academy of Music. He returned to Romania in 2007 and dedicated himself to chamber music, having given numerous recitals throughout the country and abroad in the company of well-established performers. The Latvian composer Anna Veismane especially composed for him 'Hidden Dragons', a piece which he performed as a world premiere at the Romanian Athenaeum in 2012. Along the years, Bogdan has been a tireless promoter of classical guitar in Romania, a devotion also acknowledged by Guitar International.
Programme:
Robert de Visee - 'Suite' in G Major
Antonio Vivaldi - 'Sonata' in A Minor
Henry Purcell - 'Bourree-Scotch Tune-Hornpipe'
Georg Friedrich Haendel - 'Sonata' in A Minor, Op. 1, No. 4
George Enescu - 'Andante Religioso'
Ioan Caianu - 'Codex Caioni'
Marin Marais - 'L’Agreable', 'La Provencale', 'La Musette', 'Matelotte', 'Le Basque'
Text and Image courtesy of ICR webasite
