Marvellous Medieval and Renaissance Instruments A Zeneakadémia saját szervezésű programja

Róbert Mandel has spent several decades researching the history and secrets of instruments. He has revealed their inexhaustibly rich past in books and on the concert podium, although it has to be said that the latter is certainly the better format to bring to life such little-known instruments as the gittern, the namesake of the modern guitar and extensively employed in the 13th and 14th centuries, or the angular-bodied string instrument, the crwth (crotta). We come across many more marvels of music in the course of this evening, in the company of interesting, exotic dances and music from all nations. Two ensembles are required to achieve all this. In 2008, the year of their foundation, Ensemble Leones set themselves the task of authentically representing medieval and early Renaissance German-language music and Renaissance dances. Their leader, Marc Lewon, is one of the acknowledged specialists and most accomplished performers of medieval German-language secular music, and who attends Oxford University as both a performance artist and music historian. Baptiste Romain from Switzerland is similarly well known as a player of instruments dating back several hundred years, including the vielle and early bagpipes; his authentic copies of these instruments allow him to conjure up the dance music of the Renaissance period. Host for this varied, entertaining and informative programme is the series’ artistic director, Róbert Mandel, who recently established his new group, Ensemble Mandel, to take up the challenges of the age.