Cantar alla Viola

Cantar alla viola

NADINE BALBEISI - soprano

FERNANDO MARÍN - viola da gamba / renaissance viols

Nadine Balbeisi and Fernando Marín make up Cantar alla Viola. The duo has devoted twenty years of research and interpretation to rediscovering the exquisite musical practice of singing with a viol (which is what their name means). Using different kinds of viols to accompany the voice, such as the Spanish Vihuela de arco (the bowed vihuela) and the English lyra-viol, they have a wide variety of repertoire ranging from trecento to early baroque.

For their instruments, Cantar alla viola researches historical reproductions of Renaissance models and materials, including building techniques and gut strings. The harmonies of the instruments are sustained by using a special and refined bow technique, creating a sound that blends well with the human voice.

Cantar alla Viola has performed in festivals and concert series in the US, Belgium, Germany, Spain, and the Czech Republic making guest appearances at the Viola da Gamba Society of America and on radios such as the BBC. The duo is particularly dedicated to searching for repertoire of lesser-known composers and bringing them to a wider public through their recordings of unique unpublished works.

The lithe and distinctive voice of American/Jordanian soprano Nadine Balbeisi blends perfectly with the sound of the viols. She began her international solo career when she moved to Germany, singing oratorio, chamber music, opera and recitals. The University of Michigan, where she received her Bachelor’s degree, gave her an Emerging Artist Award. She specializes in early music, her repertoire extending from the XIV through the XVIII centuries. She has performed as a soloist with various ensembles and orchestras and featured as a soloist in the first three CDs of the Atalante series Reliquie di Roma, focusing on repertoire from 17th century Rome.

“Balbeisi’s effortlessly flowing natural voice with warm shimmering height and whispering pianos explored mystical lines…It is astounding how much emotion and beauty can be found in such a simple instrument, which imitates the human voice…The wings of the listener’s hearts were opened”

RHEINISCHE POST

Originally from Alicante, the gambist, cellist and musicologist, Fernando Marín specialized in early bowed instruments, historical interpretation and chamber music. He has researched the origins, methods of playing and repertoire of these instruments, developing a unique technique for accompanying the voice in the duo Cantar alla Viola.

In addition to five Duo CDs, he has released four solo CDs; eVIOLution, on the origins of the viola da gamba, sCORDAtura, The Art of the Vihuela de arco and Magia Consoni et Dissoni. He has a PhD. in Musicology on the bowed vihuela, and has also published articles on musical rhetoric, historical use and production of gut strings, ornamentation and improvisation. In 2017 he won a Leonardo Grant for Researchers and Cultural Creators of the BBVA Foundation.

Nadine and Fernando also perform Brazilian music in the Trio Viola da samba.

PRESS COMMENTS

“Extremely sensitively played and sung… this CD becomes a wonderful experience full of emotion and pure beauty.”

CLASSICS in Luxembourg

„...an almost-lost practice of the Renaissance — how to take a multi-part vocal work and play it with just a solo voice and a viola da gamba — it is worth its weight in gold.“

EARLY MUSIC America

Album nominated for International Classical Music Awards