From Court and County

Violin fans, open your ears! On May 30th 2005, Andrew Manze, artistic director of the English concert and violin consort Phantasm will be joined on stage by Torbjörn Näsbom, who plays the, er, Nyckelharpa. Just to give you a little background: Phantasm made a stunning debut to the scene, when their first album won Gramophone's award for best Baroque Instrumental Recording in 1997. Since then, they have quietly built their status as brilliant interpreters of both well-known (Bach's The Art of the Fugue) and slightly less famous repertoire (William Lawes, Orlando Gibbons). Their current CD "Four Temperaments" features pieces by Byrd, Ferrabosco, Parsons and Tallis.
The Nyckelharpa, meanwhile, has made a remarkable come-back from near extinction at the beginning of the 20th Century to a total of about 10.000 players right now. It is a traditional Swedish Instrument with 16 Strings, 3 of which are Melody Strings, one a Drone String and 12 are Resonce Strings. Its sound has been described as "like a fiddle, only with lots more resonance".
The program for the evening consists of pieces by Andreas von Düben, Orlando Gibbons and Matthew Locke and Manze will furthermore be playing Johan Helmich Roman's "Assagi".

In further news, Manzes shift in Repertoire towards more "Classical" works has already earned him a position in the Mozart-year: As part of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra's Mini-series commemorating the composers 250th birthday, Manze will appear on an evening bundling Mozarts Requiem and a Symphony by 18th Century Joseph Leopold von Eybler.

Source: From Sweden
Homepage: Phantasm
Homepage: The American Nyckelharpa Association
Source: Scotsman

Picture Phantasm by Anthony Crickmay
Picture Andrew Manze by Richard Haughton