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THE MOST CURIOUS MUSICAL COLLECTION
OF OLOCIN OZZANIUGNAS
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World premier of the violin sonata RV 829 by Vivaldi on Radio Clásica (La Dársena. Jesús Trujillo)Scaramuccia
Scaramuccia is a Commedia dell’Arte character from the early 18th century, known for his penchant for getting into fights and tricky situations. He evolved from an earlier character, Capitano, a soldier who wielded a sword. Scaramuccia traded in his sword for a guitar, which he used to solve complicated situations.
Scaramuccia is also the title of a piece by Neapolitan violinist and composer Nicola Matteis.
This piece by Matteis was one of the first ones that we, as Scaramuccia, performed together, back in 2013. Since then, our passion for Italian Baroque music has only intensified. And the idea of resolving conflicts through art, rather than confrontation, may seem naive, but it remains captivating and necessary to us.
“Etwas Besseres kann einem Konzertpublikum nicht passieren.”
Jens Wortmann Kulturbüro Göttingen (Germany)
“una factura musical y una belleza absolutamente impresionantes.”
Mario Guada, Codalario (Spain)
“Los tres músicos estuvieron perfectamente compenetrados, ligados por una complicidad que multiplicaba la efectividad de una música que en aquel precioso escenario supo a gloria.”
Manuel M. Martín Galán Scherzo (Spain)
“Lupiáñez introdujo desde el primer contacto sonoro una materia viva, sensible, casi orgánica. A su lado, la violonchelista Inés Salinas Blasco sostenía el pulso desde una presencia firme, atenta, generando entre ambos un estado de compenetración que se manifestaba tanto en la precisión como en la respiración compartida”
Alejandra Gutiérrez, El Faro de Melilla (Spain)
About us
Scaramuccia is dedicated to researching and performing European instrumental repertoire from the 17th and 18th centuries, with a focus on historically informed performance practices. Since our beginnings in 2013, we have given more than seventy concerts across Europe. Along the way, we have discovered that there are kind and music-loving people everywhere, and we have had the chance of visiting stunning places and indulging in delicious foods.
We have a passion and a constant curiosity about the past, about discovering the rhetoric and the emotions hidden behind the music we play and finding ways to convey that to our listeners.
To achieve this, we have made it our mission to unearth previously unknown compositions, rather than focusing on well-trodden repertoire (although we love Bach and other famous composers!). This has led us not only to unearth music by anonymous or truly unknown composers, but also to the exciting opportunity to perform world premieres of newly discovered works by Vivaldi and Pisendel. This is thanks to the tireless research of our violinist and musicologist Javier Lupiáñez, who has discovered and identified these forgotten compositions.
We are also committed to putting existing research on ornamentation into practice, which we believe is a crucial element of baroque music. By doing so, we aim to bring the music to life in a fresh, personal, and unique way.
Our work has been recognized with several awards and nominations. In 2016, we won the Audience Prize at the Göttinger Reihe Historischer Musik International Competition for a concert that featured Handel and Jimi Hendrix. In 2022, we were nominated for the REMA European Early Music Awards in the Heritage and Repertoire category for our project The Cabinet II Project. Although we did not win the prize, we are proud of the recognition for our efforts in making unpublished repertoire accessible through recordings, concerts, academic papers, music editions, and conferences – all achieved without external funding.
In 2018, we launched our own record label, Snakewood Editions, which allows us to release our own recordings as well as those of like-minded artists who share our vision. We are thrilled with how the albums have turned out – they are beautifully crafted and feature detailed liner notes. We are meticulous about recording technique and mastering process to showcase the unique timbres of our historical instruments. The albums have received excellent reviews and have been nominated for several ICMA, Opus Klassik, and MIN awards. You can explore our discography here.
In June 2023, we released our latest album, L’altra Venezia, featuring world premiere recordings of works by Venetian composers, including two newly discovered sonatas by Albinoni. The album has received excellent reviews, among them the “Melómano de Oro,” “Recommended Recording and Exceptional Sound” by Ritmo magazine, and “Exceptional Recording” by Scherzo magazine.
In January 2024, we released a digital single featuring the world premiere of Vivaldi’s Sonata RV 829, a violin sonata recently identified by Javier Lupiáñez, which had its public world premiere on the program La Dársena on Radio Clásica, hosted by Jesús Trujillo.
For a more standard biography of Scaramuccia, please click here.
“Música que —esto es lo importante— encontró en los tres soberbios músicos de Scaramuccia la interpretación soñada.”
Manuel M. Martín Galán Scherzo (Spain)
Recordings
“Scaramuccia differentiates the playing so much that it definitely conveys feelings, feelings of joy as well as feelings of sadness or deep melancholy.”
Remy Frank, Pizzicato
Artists
Javier Lupiáñez
Violin and direction
Inés Salinas
Violoncello and viola da gamba
Patrícia Vintém
Harpsichord
Programmes
Our concert programs are carefully curated, with attention to historical and rhetorical aspects. We also prioritize the presentation of each piece and our interaction with the audience, striving to engage listeners actively and make them an integral part of the musical experience.
We view a performance as a journey through emotions, from the first note to the last, as an immersive musical experience.
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“Les spectateurs ont pu apprécier la virtuosité de chaque interprète, la cohérence de l’ensemble et une belle complicité entre les quatre musiciens.
Joseph Pirson, Malonne Première (Belgium)
Acknowledgements
We would like to take this space to thank the individuals and institutions who have supported and inspired us throughout our journey. Keeping a project like this alive over time—with such a small team and without institutional backing—is no easy feat. So here is our heartfelt gratitude to everyone who has made the path a little smoother, both on stage and behind the scenes:
To the teams behind the festivals and concert series that have placed their trust in us, for giving us a platform to share our favorite music with audiences; to the makers of our instruments and bows, for being a constant source of inspiration (with special thanks to the Stichting Nationaal Muziekinstrumenten Fonds for their loan to Javier Lupiáñez); to our former teachers, for their example and for sparking our curiosity and passion; to the researchers, libraries, and institutions who have supported and inspired our work in musicological research; to the specialized media outlets who have helped spread our work; to the fans we’ve yet to meet in person, but who have bought every single one of our albums and followed our work over the years; and to our loved ones, for their unwavering support.
We also extend our thanks to all the patrons who backed our crowdfunding campaigns for our recordings, and to the organizations that joined in supporting them: Eudemonist Society, Gravin van Bylandt Stichting, Het Fonds voor de Geld- en Effectenhandel, Het Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds Noord-Brabant, Sena Performers Muziekproductiefonds, Stichting Gilles Hondius, Stichting Sint Nicolaas Gasthuis, Stichting Zabawas, Van den Berch van Heemstede Stichting, and Van Ommeren – de Voogt Stichting.
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