About us
Rediscovering Baroque Music
We are a chamber music ensemble specialising in the recovery of the European instrumental repertoire of the early 18th century. Our work is driven by our inquiring minds and the constant need to grasp the essence of Historically Informed Performance practice. We seek to give life to completely unknown works and rediscover the forgotten musical language of the Baroque period. It is a language which breaks with the established music tradition, a language which gives a new lease of life to each musical act. An ever-changing speech – fresh, yet emerging from a deep understanding of the past and inviting the Audience to experience music in a new way. Rooted in the art of persuasion, rhetorical music the way we deliver it is there to teach, move and delight.
Scaramuccia was founded on the initiative of the violinist and musicologist Javier Lupiáñez. It debuted at the fringes of Bruges and Utrecht festivals in the summer of 2013 and met with a very positive reception from the audiences and organizers. Since then, the ensemble has gained reputation within the European Early Music scene, often praised for its uniqueness. Among other festivals and venues, Scaramuccia has performed at Internationaal Kamermuziek Festival Utrecht – Janine Jansen and Friends, Kasteelconcerten and Musica Antica da Camera (The Netherlands), Fora do Lugar, Encontros de Música Antiga de Loulé Francisco Rosado and Sente a História (Portugal), Festival Internacional de Arte Sacro de Madrid and Teatro Kursaal de Melilla (Spain), Museum Vleeshuis and Philarmonie de Namur (Belgium), Maldon Festival of Arts (United Kingdom) as well as Festival Echi Lontani (Italy).
In its zeal to discover new music, Scaramuccia had the privilege of being the first ensemble to have attributed the RV 820 and the RV 205/2 to Vivaldi and performing both pieces as a world première in an interview and a live concert broadcast in the programme De Musyck Kamer of the Dutch radio station Concertzender in the summer of 2014. These works, together with other lately-discovered pieces by Vivaldi for violin and basso continuo, were recorded for Ayros in 2015 as part of the ensemble’s first album.
Scaramuccia was awarded the Audience Prize in the Göttinger Reihe Historischer Musik 2015/2016 competition.
The ensemble is currently working on “The Cabinet II Project”, which will take the Listeners on a journey to Dresden, following the footsteps of the great Konzertmeister Johann Georg Pisendel and rediscovering his manuscripts preserved in Schrank II. The project includes a broad range of elements, such as unearthing the musical works, live performances, publishing sheet music and musicological texts as well as CD recordings.
“1717. Memories of a Journey to Italy”, released in 2018, is the first disc of the series. It has been acclaimed by reviewers all over Europe and nominated for the 2019 ICMA Awards. It was launched with the ensemble’s own recording label: Snakewood Editions. The second album of the series, “Pisendel. Neue Sonaten”, is to be released in 2020.
Artists
Javier Lupiáñez
Violin and direction
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the firmly eloquent violin of Javier Lupiáñez” GRAMOPHONE, March 2012
“Francisco Javier Lupiáñez possède un jeu diabolique, quelque part entre Paganini et Méphistophélès. Son archet déploie tous les motifs de la séduction: rubatos enjôleurs, glissandos imperceptibles, rythmes ensorceleurs… Ces audaces esthétiques s’appuient sur une technique impeccable” Pierre-Carl Langlais, Qbuz
“le violon virtuose et goûteux de Francisco Javier Lupiañez”, ODB-Opéra
Francisco Javier Lupiáñez Ruiz began his studies in his hometown, Melilla, Spain, where he received several prizes in interpretation and composition. After years of studies and practice, he received many diplomas, including an Advanced Diploma in Classical Violin, a Master’s in Musicology and a Master’s Degree with distinction under the guidance of Enrico Gatti at The Royal Conservatoire of The Hague.
Javier has performed several times as a soloist and leader with numerous groups and orchestras. He has performed in Spain, Portugal, France, Italy, Lithuania, Germany, Switzerland, United Kingdom, Belgium, The Netherlands, as well as in Japan and United States and has recorded for Harmonia Mundi, Ayros, France Musique, Musiqu3, Concertzender, Radio Klara and Snakewood Editions, among others.
Javier plays on an instrument made in 1682 in Amsterdam by Gijsbert Verbeek, which is on loan from the collection of The Dutch Musical Instruments Foundation.
His work as a researcher led to the identification of works by Pisendel, Westhoff, Leclair, Lonati and Corelli; as well as new works by Antonio Vivaldi: the Trio sonata RV 820 (the earliest known work by Antonio Vivaldi), the violin sonata RV 205/2 and a newly discovered violin cadenza.
He has given masterclasses and lectures at Mozarteum (Austria), Conservatorio Superior de Vigo (Spain), Conservatorio Statale di Musica, Cagliari (Italy), Musica Antica Festival (The Netherlands), Centro Studi Opera Omnia Luigi Boccherini (Italy), Symposium “Ex umbra in solem”, Haliciana Schola Cantorum in Lviv (Ukraine) and 18th Biennial International Conference on Baroque Music in Cremona (Italy).
He has been invited as a guest author to write for the RISM online catalogue. He is the author of several articles and music editions featured in international publications.
Javier is a PhD student at Universidad de Guanajuato, under the guidance of Dr. Fabrizio Ammetto, where he is conducting research into the forgotten art of improvisation and the works of Antonio Vivaldi.
He is co-founder of the recording label and publishing house Snakewood Editions.
Javier has a baroque violin, Verbeek, made in 1682, on loan from the collection of The Dutch Musical Instruments Foundation. (http://www.muziekinstrumentenfonds.nl)
Inés Salinas
Violoncello and viola da gamba
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Inés specialises in the historically informed performance practice of the cello and viola da gamba. She is a founder, member and manager of the chamber music ensemble Scaramuccia as well as a co-founder of the recording label and publishing house Snakewood Editions. She collaborates with several European orchestras and ensembles, and teaches cello privately. She currently lives in The Hague (The Netherlands).
Born in 1985 in Zaragoza (SP), Inés holds Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees from The Royal Conservatory of The Hague (NL), where she studied under the guidance of Jaap ter Linden and Lucia Swarts (historical cello) and Mieneke van der Velden (viola da gamba). She has received further advice from inspiring musicians such us Gaetano Nasillo, Hidemi Suzuki, Wieland Kuijken, Christophe Coin, Bruno Cocset, Itziar Atutxa, Rainer Zipperling, Balázs Maté, Enrico Gatti, Olivia Centurioni and Enrico Onofri.
Inés also obtained a Bachelor’s Degree in classical cello at CSMA (Zaragoza, SP), where she studied with Ángel Luis Quintana, Cuarteto Casals and Cuarteto Quiroga, among others.
She is particularly fond of Italian (especially Neapolitan) music of the High Baroque period. She devoted her Master’s research to the Neapolitan cello repertoire at the turn of the 18th century, a field which she continues to research, unearthing and performing an amazing repertoire that is not yet widely known and appreciated.
Inés has performed with the Britten-Pears Baroque Orchestra (UK) in a project conducted by Christophe Rousset, Orquesta Barroca Conde Duque (SP) conducted by Ángel Sampedro, as well as I Giovani della Montis Regalis 2013 (IT) conducted by Olivia Centurioni, Alessandro de Marchi and Enrico Onofri.
She has performed live for Dutch radio stations Radio 4 and Concertzender and has recorded for the labels Naïve, Ayros and Snakewood Editions.
She plays on a baroque cello made by André Mehler in 2019 after Alessandro Gagliano, Napoli 1704, a viola da gamba made by Matthew Farley in 2017 after Michel Collichon, Paris 1683, and bows by Jerôme Gastaldo and Magdalena Sapeta.
Patrícia Vintém
Harpsichord
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Patrícia Vintém, a Portuguese harpsichordist, acknowledged her passion for music at a very young age in her hometown, Viana do Castelo, where she began her violin and harpsichord studies.
In 2009 she obtained a Bachelor’s degree in harpsichord at the Escola Superior de Música in Lisbon in the class of Ana Mafalda Castro. Her desire to cross borders and seek knowledge and experience in the field of Early Music brought her to The Netherlands to study harpsichord, where she obtained a Bachelor’s degree under the guidance of Jacques Ogg (2013) and a Master’s degree with Fabio Bonizzoni (2015).
During her studies she had the opportunity to share the stage with many renowned artists such as Amandine Beyer, Enrico Gatti, Fabio Bonizzoni or Kati Debretzeni.
Since 2009, Patrícia has been a founding member of Les Esprits Animaux. The ensemble has been warmly acclaimed by audiences and critics, awarded with the 1st prize at the Van Wassenaer Competition (2016, The Netherlands), and recorded three CD albums published by the labels of Ambronay and Musica Ficta.
In 2014, she became a member of Scaramuccia – an ensemble with which she recorded several CDs, all devoted to re-discovering unknown or forgotten Baroque repertoire. Together with the core members of Scaramuccia, she founded an independent recording label and publishing house: Snakewood Editions.
Patrícia has recorded for such radio stations as France Musique, Radio Klara, Concertzender Nederlands and Musiq3.
As a soloist and continuo player, she regularly performs in several venues in her home country, as well as in other countries such as Spain, France, Belgium, The Netherlands, Germany, Italy, Lithuania and Japan.
She is also actively engaged in music education and is currently pursuing a Master’s of Arts degree in Music Therapy at the Codarts University for the Arts in Rotterdam.
Recordings
1717. Memories of a Journey to Italy
5/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Brian Clark, Early Music Review
5/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ “Discos Recomendados” Ángel Villagrasa, Melómano
“Fascinating CD”… “They are technically outstanding and balanced with rare sensitivity” Brian Robins, Early Music Review
“The performances are consistently persuasive and full of flair and sensitivity.”
Jonathan Woolf , Musicweb
“This disc is not just one of many. This is a major addition to the Vivaldi discography.” […] This disc is a model of sincere and intelligent music-making.” Johan van Veen. Musica Dei donum
Pisendel. Neue Sonaten
5/5 Estrellas (excelente) en la sección de Discos Recomendados de la revista Melómano. 5/5 Estrellas – Disco del mes de la revista RITMO “un disco como este debería suscitar desatados entusiasmos”De opname is eveneens een juweel. (Opus Klassiek)
Unas lecturas de muy alto nivel (Scherzo, enero 2021)
When baroque music is so convincingly and attractively presented it is hard to resist the charms and delights… (Early Music Review)
Programs
Our concert programmes are well designed in terms of the choice of repertoire; we also take great care of the historical and rhetorical aspects of the music we perform.
Presentation of the pieces and interaction with the Audience are crucial for us. We want the Listener to listen actively in order to become part of the Musical Act itself. We understand the performance as a journey through emotions, entailing everything from the first to the last note.
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Support
The aim of Scaramuccia is to rediscover unknown music from the past, which definitely deserves it. We are conducting thorough research and planning new, exciting projects, which will need financial support. You can become part of all of this through making a contribution. Regardless how big or small, it will be greatly appreciated!
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