Locatelli is generally presented as one of the most worthy representatives of those Italian Baroque violinists and composers who played, with eyes out of place, foaming lips, crazy wigs, nervous contortion and sound foot. During the concerts the audience screamed, the walls shook, the trance invaded the place. The fabulous vibrations of these virtuosi were even capable of making small birds faint! But beyond this whimsical character, Locatelli is an outstanding composer: he does not stop exploring, does not hesitate to get lost in the most improbable tones, the least symmetrical structures, his slow movements unfold in a just expression that touches the being at the deepest level.
His music offers a space for expression and creativity that seduced Marianne Piketty, she explains: “His music is capable of awakening joy, jubilation, truculence and mischievous humor through its fast movements… a colorful enthusiasm.”. A style that is disjointed to say the least, sometimes even disconcerting, and yet so accurate that it manages to express both the most intense drama and the most subtle tenderness.
Fil d’Ariane brings together the most beautiful pages of this composer, those that highlight this singular sound universe, not hesitating to bring together a variety of identities to construct our dramatic unfolding. It is a crossing, that of the whirlwind of life where we will pass from a Sinfonia funebre to a theatrical introduction, from silence to light, from complaint to Ariadne’s emancipation.
It is this idea of variety and wandering, of loss of reference point, that motivated this project. The program presents different islands of Locatelli’s music… between which the young Italian-Argentinean composer Alex Nante is in charge of drifting: “It is symbolically the wandering of the soul that wanders through desolate and silent states or agitated by deep doubts, waiting for a truth that can set it free“.
A Breadcrumb trail that seeks to show how differences have no problem coexisting, and how their confrontations, however paradoxical they may be, are always a driving force towards emancipation.
“At the head of her ensemble, the aptly named Ideal Concert, Marianne Piketty artfully unrolls the ball of violin threads in a labyrinth from which, like us, she does not seem to want to leave.” Le Monde (2018)
“Alex Nante’s music slips skillfully between Locatelli’s movements. The link persists thanks to the dynamism and agility of the musicians, who seem to have woven this record of tremendous coherence into a single piece”. ComposHer (2018)
“This is an album of joyful synthesis and occasional genius, a thoughtful experiment in threading together the old and the new.” Gramophone (2018)