Baltic Stage: The Legend of the Meeting with King Sigismund III Vasa | festival “Banchetto musicale”
Baltic Stage
The Legend of the Meeting with King Sigismund III Vasa
Concerto Riga ensemble (Latvia):
Laura Šarova – Baroque violin
Anna Zagraja – Baroque violin
Alise Keita Driviniece – Baroque violin
Valerijus Jasiulevičius – viola da gamba
Gertrūda Krauksta – harpsichord
The year is 1617. Adam Jarzębski, a composer and violinist in his late twenties, returns from Italy to join the court chapel of Sigismund III Vasa, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania. Jarzębski was not only an outstanding composer – although only a small portion of his music has survived – but also a poet, writer and architect.
His literary work Gościniec, albo krótkie opisanie Warszawy (The Inn, or a Short Description of Warsaw) offers a fascinating glimpse into everyday life in Warsaw in the first half of the 17th century. As an architect of the royal court, he began his career by designing Ujazdów Castle.
The concert Legend of the Meeting with King Sigismund III Vasa takes us into the rich and complex musical world of this era. The programme features works by Adam Jarzębski from his Canzoni e concerti a due, tre, e quattro voci con basso continuo (1627), alongside music by his contemporaries, including Italian violin virtuosos Biagio Marini and Giovanni Battista Buonamente. The works will be performed on historical instruments.
The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth shared close historical and cultural ties with lands that are now part of Latvia and Lithuania. Perhaps some of these very works were heard in this region more than 300 years ago.
Concerto Riga is an early music ensemble founded in 2024. The musicians have studied both in Latvia and at various European institutions, such as the Music and Arts Private University of the City of Vienna, the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis in Basel, the Royal College of Music in Stockholm, among others. As soloists, chamber musicians, and orchestra members, they have performed across the Baltic states, Scandinavia, Germany, France, Switzerland, Austria, and elsewhere in Europe. In addition to their active concert life, some members of Concerto Riga also teach at the Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music. Concerto Riga focuses on instrumental music, highlighting the works of famous Baroque composers that are rarely performed today and are still awaiting their well-deserved revival.
Laura Šarova is a lecturer at the Department of Early Music of the Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music, head of the Baroque Violin Class, and founder and artistic director of the early music ensemble Concerto Riga. She has performed with various early music ensembles in the Baltic States, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Italy, Austria, and elsewhere, including at the Kölner Philharmonie in Germany as a member of Ensemble Cordevento. As a concertmaster, she has performed with Baroque orchestras such as Collegium Musicum Riga, Futuro, and the JVLMA Baroque Orchestra. She has collaborated with renowned violinists and conductors including Federico Maria Sardelli, Erik Bosgraaf, Peter Spissky, and Alessandro Ciccolini. In 2019, she was awarded 2nd prize at the Chamber Music Competition of Rīgas Melngalvju brālība.
Laura Šarova holds a Bachelor’s degree (2017) and a Master’s degree (2019) in Baroque violin performance from the Department of Early Music at the Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music, where she studied under Assoc. Prof. Agnese Kanniņa. She has furthered her studies at the Royal College of Music in Stockholm with Ann Wallström and at the Music and Arts University of the City of Vienna (MUK) with Ulrike Engel, as well as through masterclasses with Susanne Scholz, Leila Schayegh, Amanda Babington, Daniel Fradkin, Fabio Missaggia, Werner Matzke, Jocelyne Rainer-Gibert, Lenka Torgensen, Lorenzo Coppola, and Meret Lüthi.
Concert duration – 1 hour
Doors open at 5.30 pm.
Seats are not numbered. To choose your preferred seat, please arrive early.
Tickets are distributed by www.bilietai.lt
Concert partner – National Museum – Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania.
The event may be photographed and filmed. Your image may appear in publicly published photographs or videos intended for the promotion, communication and archiving of the event.
Further information: www.bmfestival.lt
Festival organiser
Public Concert Institution ‘Banchetto musicale’
Festival is funded by
Lithuanian Council for Culture
Vilnius City Municipality
Partners
National Museum – Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania
Trakų Vokė Manor
LNDM Museum of Applied Arts and Design
Montis Magia Climbing Centre
Merchants’ Club
Cathedral Apart-Hotel
Feel Reel
Ministry of Culture of Spain
Andalusian Agency of Cultural Institutions
Media partners
LRT KLASIKA
Moteris Magazine
Culture and Arts Magazine Nemunas
Weekly Magazine 7 meno dienos
Weekly Magazine Savaitė
Lrytas News Portal
UAB Media traffic
The festival organisers reserve the right to amend the programme in the event of unforeseen circumstances.
