Kristaps BERGS, cello

Ieva SALIETE, harpsichord

Programme: Marin Marais, Giovanni Sollima, Francesco Geminiani, Christoph Schaffrath, Pēteris Vasks, Johann Sebastian Bach

Cellist Kristaps Bergs and harpsichord player Ieva Saliete invite us to join them on a musical journey spanning centuries and musical styles. The programme includes Baroque compositions performed on a Baroque cello and contemporary pieces played on a modern instrument, thus creating a unique interplay of eras and musical instruments, both for cello solo and a cello and harpsichord duet.

Cello music from different ages will reveal the diversity of sound and expressive range of the instrument: while Geminiani, Bach and Marais will showcase the sophistication of Baroque, Sollima and Vasks will introduce us to the intensity and emotional depth of contemporary music.

For the first time in Latvia, the concert will see a soloist play both the Baroque cello and the modern version of the instrument. The listeners will hear the intimate sound of a contemporary-made Baroque-style cello built in 2024 by Philipp Bonhoeffer, a masterful maker whose workshop combines ancient craft secrets with modern scientific solutions. The other instrument, owned by Kristaps Bergs, was built in 1836 by Lorenzo Ventapane; the cello has a warm classical sound characteristic of a masterpiece by 19^th-century makers, adapted to meet the demands of contemporary large-scale concert hall stages.