Matteis decoded

There is little doubt that the Italian Baroque violinist and composer Nicola Matteis was a legend in his lifetime. He was adored by women and his tours took him from Paris to London with all the glamour of a popstar today. Was a star of such dimensions already tasting something of the heavens? Yet today Nicola Matteis has become nothing more than a name.

The Matteis Project Ensemble, led by Etienne Abelin is now in the process of discovering his music – from a variety of different angles. On the one hand, there are the performances with original instrumentation and indeed original instruments. The idea is to try to recreate something of the electrifying impact the concerts used to have in their time. The colours of the bare manuscripts have to be illuminated once again – and with the violin virtuoso Giuliano Carmignola we have a fantastic “restaurator” of Baroque music as special guest.

But there is more to Matteis’ music. In the spirit of “reImagination”, the Matteis Project - Baroque ReImagined transforms the figurative language of Matteis’ music, using the electric violin as well as popsong, into contemporary idioms. Baroque gestures link with pop and jazz harmonies to create a new, lyrical, dance-like musical form: Transbaroque.