Acqua Alta

Information

Serikon is in many ways an unique ensemble, with the concept to play renaissance music on period instruments and contemporary music, written for these instruments. Or, as Daniel Stighäll, artistic leader of the group expresses himself; to paint motives from our time using renaissance colors. Acqua Alta means “high water” and with this production, Daniel Stighäll raises his view to get a larger perspective over the condition of our planet. Our focus is at Venice, a city flooded more and more frequently and with higher water levels from the rising sea. Serikon brings us to a point in time when Venice was the cultural center of the world. We meet the grandiose music by Andrea & Giovanni Gabrieli, Claudio Merulo and Adrian Willaert, but also the subtle early baroque by Giovanni Rovetta, Barbara Strozzi and Dario Castello. The new motives are presented by the Swedish composer Jan Sandström and the Brittish composer Alexander Campkin. Sandström’s piece is based on a personal description of Venice by the American poet Meena Alexander and Campkin’s piece on his own translation of an excerpt from Tao Te Ching, which becomes a comment on overindulgence and greed. On this production, Daniel has gathered some of the best renaissance musicians in the world, conducted by Erik Westberg and guiding us through the most beautiful alleys of the renaissance and playing music to us that we have never heard before.

Sanctus

Sonata Duodecima, Libro II

Classical Music Magazine review: ”Monotony is deftly avoided by the inclusion of new works for the same forces by Alexander Campkin and Jan Sandström, both of whom respond with flair. Recommended.” 5/5

Early Music Review: ”I don’t know the players, but they are impressive, sensitive and not quite as overdone as one sometimes hears. I found it entirely enjoyable. Well worth buying.” CB

BBC CD review: ”From the ensemble Serikon, meaning silk, weaving together cloth arriving in venice from the silk road and the complex colours of the city’s cloth dyes and painters. And a new thread in Serikon’s fabric: a newly commissioned copy of the Venitian tenor trombone. You’ll taste its flavour in the new music commissioned by Alexander Campkin and Jan Sandstrom to sit alongside some of the splendours of Venice’s musical past.”
Norrländska Socialdemokraten review: ”Campkin’s Colour blinds the eye is really fascinating… a delightful and thrilling experience.”

Musicians:

Anna Jobrant, Virve Karén • soprano
Anna Zander Sand, Katarina Karlsson • alto
Martin Vanberg, Philip Sherman • tenor
Joakim Schuster, Anders Edström • bass
Ann Wallström, Marie-Louise Marming • violin, viola
Susanne Brunström Stighäll • viola
Nora Roll • viola da gamba, lirone
William Dongois • cornetto, tenor cornetto, recorder
Judith Pacquier • cornetto, recorder
Daniel Stighäll, Jonathan Wettermark • trombone
Katharina Bäuml • dulcian, tenor dulcian
Lars Sjöstedt • organ, harpsichord
Magnus Kjellson • chamber organ
Anders Ericson, Dohyo Sol • theorbo
Erik Westberg • conductor