HORACE OF THE LITHUANIAN BAROQUE: The Poetry of Sarbievijus and the Music of His Time
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International early music ensemble "Canto Fiorito":
Renata Dubinskaitė – mezzo-soprano, reader
Rodrigo Calveyra – cornet, flutes, artistic director (Brazil/France)
Miguel Rincon – theorbo, baroque guitar (Spain)
The Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania has declared 2025 the Year of Motiejus Kazimieras Sarbievijus (1595–1640) and Baroque Literature. Exactly 400 years ago – in 1625, Motiejus Kazimieras Sarbievijus, a pupil of the Lithuanian Jesuits and one of the most famous poets of the Baroque era who wrote in Latin, published a collection of poetry “Three Lyrical Books”, which made his name famous in 17th-century Europe.
“Canto Fiorito” presents a new concert program, in which poetry readings are combined with Italian Baroque music of the poet’s time, written according to texts on the same themes as Sarbievijus’ works. Italian music was not chosen by chance – it was while studying in Rome that Sarbievijus formed himself as a creator, because Italian culture, ancient architecture, sculpture, works of art, and literature were of decisive importance to the poet’s work. In Italian music of the early 17th century, poetry was considered the basis of everything, and music was perceived as the “handmaid of poetry”, helping to convey and strengthen the meanings and emotions encoded in the text. It was precisely the emphasis on poetry in music and the return to the legacy of ancient drama that led Italy to the formation of a new Baroque style. Italian early Baroque music will introduce Sarbievijus’ creative legacy into a broader historical and artistic context.
The concert will feature compositions by Claudio Monteverdi, Francesco Cavalli, Johannes Hieronymus Kapsberger, Giacomo Carissimi, Chiara Margarita Cozzolani, Stefano Landi and Dario Castello.
Renata Dubinskaitė is the main soloist of Canto Fiorito, the producer of this ensemble and the Kretinga Early Music Festival, as well as the creator and singer of the concert programs of the ensembles Duo Barocco and Lux Maris. She first studied art history and theory at the Vilnius Academy of Arts, defended her doctoral dissertation in art history, and then completed her bachelor's and master's studies in solo singing with Prof. Vladimir Prudnikov at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre and the Vytautas Magnus University Academy of Music.
Rodrigo Calveyra , born in Brazil, studied the flute with Conrad Steinmann at the Schola Cantorum in Basel. At the same time, he specialized in medieval music with Pedro Memelsdorff at the Civica Scuola di Musica in Milan. He later graduated in cornet at the Trossingen University of Music. He is a regular member of the renowned early music ensemble Cappella Mediterranea and assistant to its conductor Leonardo Garcia Alarcon. He performs up to a hundred concerts and baroque opera performances throughout Europe and North and South America each year. As a soloist, R. Calveyra has played with and conducted orchestras in Brazil, Switzerland, Italy, Argentina and Lithuania. He was the artistic director of the Instrumentarium ensemble founded in Brazil, with members of this ensemble such as Maria Cristina Kiehr or Manfredo Kraemer, giving more than 150 concerts in South America and Europe.
The ensemble " Canto Fiorito " has been led by R. Calveyra since 2013. It is the most active early music ensemble in our country, representing Lithuania most often at foreign festivals. The mission of the ensemble is to research and perform Renaissance and Baroque music, with special attention to the musical heritage of the 17th century Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The repertoire of "Canto Fiorito" also includes Baroque operas.
Miguel Rincón was born in Seville. He studied classical guitar and lute at the Seville Conservatory and completed two master's programs in Barcelona and Zurich. He is an active concert lutenist and basso continuo player, appearing with the most important early music ensembles and orchestras, such as the Berlin Philharmonic, the Balthasar Neumann Choir and Ensemble, the Capella Gabetta, the Il Giardino Armonico, the La Cetra Baroque Orchestra Basel, the Les Musiciens du Louvre, the Basel Chamber Orchestra, I Barocchisti and others. He is currently the principal lutenist of the ensembles Les Musiciens du Prince (with Cecilia Bartoli) and Il Pomo d'Oro.
He has performed with renowned soloists and conductors such as Cecilia Bartoli, Plácido Domingo, Joyce DiDonato, Philippe Jaroussky, Michael Spyres, Andrea Marcon, Giovanni Antonini, Marc Minkowski, Patricia Petibon, Julia Lezhneva, Francesco Corti and others.
The project is funded by the Lithuanian Council for Culture.
