La Chartreuse
de Valbonne presents well-known and
forgotten songs from Baroque, Rococo and Romantic times.
With Jelma van Amersfoort's passion for research and
Sigurd van Lommel's sense of irony and theater, the
ensemble brings original and innovative concert programmes,
full of unheard musical jewels. The world of these songs is
populated by nymphs, shepherds, dissapointed lovers and
sleeping beauties, who deal with the bigger and smaller
issues of life.
Jelma van
Amersfoort is a musicologist and performer
on lutes and early guitars: she plays original 18th- and
19th century instruments. She published on 19th centuy
guitar repertoire in Oxford Early Music and plays in
serveral early music groups. Sigurd van
Lommel has a
background in (musical) theatre and sings both classical
and modern music.
After collaborating on the recording of the CD-album
'Salamone Rossi Ebreo' with the French-Italian group
'Hypothésis' in the abbey of La Chartreuse de Valbonne in
the south of France (2003) Jelma and Sigurd decided to
continue to work together as a duo. They focus on songs
from the 1650 – 1800 period, accompanied on historical
plucked string instruments. So far they performed in
various Dutch concert halls, and repeatedly in France and
Germany. Their first CD - La Bonbonnière Lyrique - will be
available in 2014.