Great Music – Young Talents

Milo Dengler
Emma Ernst
Laurenz Güntert
Paul Hepper
Elena Riesterer
Mira Stegemann
Lara Stöcklin
Tillmann Vater

Divine Lute Playing: “Il Divino” with Sam Chapman

Mary Stuart played it, Bach celebrated it as an instrument of introspection, and Goethe grew up with its resonance—today, rock star Sting relies on its unique character to give his ballads their poignant, intense sound: the lute.

As the sonorous heart of Baroque and Renaissance music, the lute is the key to a musical world that spans the Arab world and, above all, the Mediterranean. One of the finest “guides” into this fascinating realm of Early Music is lute expert Sam Chapman. Having collaborated with the world’s most prestigious Early Music ensembles and conductors such as William Christie and Diego Fasolis, the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis alumnus uses his masterful playing to transport audiences into the soundscape of Italian lute virtuosos.

The program centers around the famous Francesco da Milano (1497–1543), who was aptly nicknamed “Il Divino”—the Divine.

The concert series “musica pura” invites you to this extraordinary auditory experience, held in the atmospheric historical hall of the Baroque estate Gutshof Güntert in Sulzburg-Laufen.

Sam Chapman, Renaissance Lute

Duo Noé Inui and Susanna Kadzhoyan in Sulzburg-Laufen

The concert series ‘musica pura’ invites you to a masterful dialogue between piano and violin in Sulzburg-Laufen:

Noé Inui, a Greek-Japanese violinist of international standing, combines the highest technical brilliance with intellectual depth and musical curiosity. Trained in Paris and Karlsruhe, awarded prizes at renowned competitions and in demand worldwide as a soloist, he performs chamber music with personalities such as Martha Argerich and teaches at the music academies in Düsseldorf and Mannheim. In the ‘musica pura’ concert series, he will perform at the Gutshof Güntert in Sulzburg-Laufen together with pianist Susanna Kadzhoyan, one of the most distinguished pianists of her generation, who is in demand throughout Europe as a soloist and chamber musician and teaches at the University of Music in Bremen. The programme will feature works by Schubert, Brahms and Prokofiev.

Every voice counts in the Ensemble Berthilo: two female singers and two male singers, all classically trained and members of various semi-professional choirs and ensembles in the Freiburg area. Performances in sacred and secular settings define the repertoire of the ensemble, which, under the direction of Zsófia Csákány, is enthusiastically dedicated to vocal music from the 16th century to the present day. In a transparent quartet formation, the ensemble’s Advent concert explores the rich sounds of Christmas music from Spain to Hungary to Norway, from Schütz, Buxtehude and Kodály to Gjeilo. Advent sounds that put the heart and spirit in the mood for Christmas.

Maja Blomenkamp, soprano
Edda Güntert, alto
Simon Dreher, tenor
Johannes Güntert, bass
At the late Baroque Stein organ of Betberg Church: Zsófia Csákány.