As part of the Early Music Season, violinist Mira Glodeanu and the baroque music ensemble Sempre will perform the concert titled Stylus Fantasticus on Sunday, April 6th, at the Romanian Athenaeum. Laurențiu Constantin, director of the Early Music Festival, shared more details about the concert, as well as upcoming events in this season's program.

Stylus Fantasticus is the title of the April 6th concert at the Romanian Athenaeum. What led you to choose this stylistic direction, and what makes this concert unique within the Early Music Season?

Stylus Fantasticus is a style that is frequently present in concert programs of philharmonic orchestras and festivals, yet it is rarely discussed as a distinct genre. The repertoire consists of works by Bach, Biber, and Buxtehude-three masters of this style. The proposal came from violinist Mira Glodeanu, who will perform alongside the Sempre Ensemble. We realized that this kind of repertoire had not yet been included in the Early Music Season in Bucharest. Additionally, Stylus Fantasticus represents a unique approach to baroque music, one that relies heavily on improvisation and the individual mastery of the performer.

This concert marks the return of the renowned violinist Mira Glodeanu to the stage, alongside the baroque music ensemble Sempre. What makes this collaboration particularly suited to this program?

Our collaboration with Mira Glodeanu goes back several years. This is our fourth project together in recent years, and each time, we have explored different areas of the repertoire. Mira left Romania almost 30 years ago and has since specialized in baroque violin. Today, she is among the elite violinists dedicated to baroque performance in Europe. The collaboration between the musicians of the Sempre Ensemble and Mira Glodeanu is extremely valuable in terms of artistic exchange.

Johann Sebastian Bach is a well-known composer, but the works of Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber and Dietrich Buxtehude-though essential to the development of baroque music-are performed less frequently. What led you to include these two composers in the program, and what discoveries do you hope to offer the audience through their works?

We chose Biber and Buxtehude precisely because they are rarely performed in Romania, yet they are widely played in Western Europe and are highly representative of Stylus Fantasticus. Moreover, along with Johann Sebastian Bach, these two composers can be seen as key figures of this style.

The program includes pieces from The Rosary Sonatas by Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber, compositions that evoke events from the life of Jesus Christ. Given the time of year, this choice is not coincidental, is it?

Of course, this was a conscious decision, considering that we are in the Lenten season before Easter. The 14 pieces in this cycle specifically depict moments from Christ's earthly life.

The Early Music Season is affiliated with the European Early Music Network (REMA), an internationally recognized organization. What does this affiliation mean for the artistic direction of your project and its recognition on the European stage?

The Bucharest Early Music Festival was accepted into the prestigious European Early Music Network ten years ago. Since then, our membership-of the festival, the Early Music Season, and its affiliated projects-has allowed us to stay connected with the most important figures in the European early music scene. This exchange of experience and direct connection to new productions, trends, and repertoire developments has significantly contributed to our growth and the artistic advancement of both the festival and the Early Music Season.

After this concert, what's next in the Early Music Season? What stylistic directions will you present to the audience in the upcoming concerts?

Next in the Early Music Season is a Vivaldi concert featuring a repertoire that has rarely been performed in Romania. Everyone knows The Four Seasons, La Notte, and other Vivaldi hits, but the pieces we will perform in May are less familiar. Then, in July, we will conclude the season with a concert by the trio Orkiestra Historyczna, led by Polish violinist Martyna Pastuszka, a longtime friend of ours.

One point I'd like to highlight is that this year marks the launch of the Eastern European Early Music Platform. This is a project we've been working on for the past few years, and it has now reached maturity. The platform includes members from the Baltic to the Mediterranean-covering the Baltic states, Poland, Romania, as well as Moldova, Serbia, Bulgaria, Greece, and Turkey.