Although their name, Barokksolistene, seems to ring of sombre concert settings with players in suits and seated on chairs, the reality couldn’t be more different. Violinist Bjarte Eike set up the ensemble in 2005 and launched a free-flowing ensemble that takes as much from classical music as it does from jazz and folk.
Barokksolistene (photo by Knut Utler)
Bjarte Eike © Gorm Valentin
Under the title of The Alehouse Sessions, Bjarte Eike and Barokksolistene move their audience to a 17th century alehouse and explore the music from a popular point of view. Folk music and court music from Purcell and Playford would have all had their place. The ensemble plays without scores, and improvisation is a large part of their performance skills.
That’s not all they get up to. The ensemble has a long history of involvement with operas and this summer, for the Longborough Festival, will be performing Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas. Their Dido, however, will not be like anything you’ve heard before. Eike said that the missing pieces to the score, such as the prologue, the end of Act II’s ‘Grove’ scene, and several dances could be added back in. In his version of the opera, Eike has added an aria for Aeneas, who otherwise goes from prevaricating about the need to leave Dido to go and found Troy on Latin soil to sailing away., and another aria has been added for Dido, both arias coming from other Purcell operas. A prologue has been added and a wake at the end for the dead Queen.
Henry Purcell: Dido and Aeneas, Z. 626 – Act II: Oft she visits this loved Mountain (arr. B. Eike for voice and chamber ensemble) (Bjarte Eike, Barokksolistene)
At Longborough, the young singers of the Longborough Emerging Artists programme will take the stage, with Camilla Seale as Dido, Sam Young as Aeneas, and Lydia Shariff as the Sorceress.
Other operas have included Telemann’s Orpheus at Den Norske Opera, directed by Stefan Herheim; Handel’s opera Alcina, also for Den Norske Opera, and the Mozart / Da Ponte operas.
The Alehouse Sessions seeks to capture the sound of London in the mid–17th century. Starting in 1642, to keep public order, all theatres were closed and remained closed for the next 18 years. Under the reforms put through by Oliver Cromwell, public performances were restricted. Music moved into the pubs and alehouses and retained its rebellious character. That’s what the Barokkesolistene want the audience to come away with – the fun of Baroque music.
The BBC filmed the Alehouse Sessions and presented it on BBC TV in April 2023.
Eike was the second concert master of Concerto Copenhagen and, after more than a decade of Vivaldi and company, decided to take Baroque music in a different direction. He described himself as curious, restless, and not content with the usual and his ensemble, now celebrating its 20th century, built on that discontent to give us a new view of music that, too often, has become simply background. His arrangement of work by a traditional Scottish composer, Niel Gow (1727–1807), gradually develops.
Niel Gow: Niel Gow’s Lament for the Death of His Second Wife (arr. B. Eike for chamber ensemble) (Barokksolistene; Bjarte Eike, cond.)
Bjarte Eike and Barokksolistene not only bring music to life, they bring life to music.
The third element of opera and stage works is movement. Eike has worked with the dance groups Barokk Mesteraften and Barokk bevegelse at the National Opera in Oslo. He regards his events in 2013 and 2019, where he curated entire evenings on the main stage at the Opera, starting with the musical direction, as particularly important. With Stuttgart Ballet in 2019, he staged Lamento by the German choreographer Andreas Heise.
Join Bjarte Eike and Barokksolistene as they travel around England and Scotland, closing with the first overnight concert at the Proms.
3 June – BRISTOL Lost Horizon Arts Centre
5 June – SHEFFIELD Peddler Warehouse
6 June – LONDON Koko
7 June – CAMBRIDGE Junction
8 June – LEEDS Belgrave Music Hall
4 August – EDINBURGH FESTIVAL – Ross Bandstand – (Ceilidh Sessions)
6 August – ALDEBURGH Snape
8 August – PROMS – From Dark till Dawn
In the middle, they will perform their unique Dido and Aeneas at the Longborough Festival on 26, 27, 29, 31 July and 2 August.
https://www.barokksolistene.com/
For more of the best in classical music, sign up for our E-Newsletter
