SANCTA MARIA: A Mass for the Vasa-Habsburg aliance

Ensemble Canto Fiorito(Lithuania)

Ieva Gaidamavičiūtė, soprano, Renata Dubinskaitė, mezzo-soprano, Saulė Šerytė, mezzo-soprano, Povilas Vanžodis, tenor, Nerijus Masevičius, bass, Josué Melendez, corneto (Mexico/Switzerland), Miguel Tantos Sevillano, sackbut (Spain/UK), Fabio de Cataldo, bass sackbut (Italy), Filip Hruby, organ (Czech Republic/Switzerland)

Rodrigo Calveyra, cornetto and artistic director (Brazil/France)

The Polish-Lithuanian commonwealth was one of the largest and most populous countries of 16th and 17th century in Europe. During the reign of Sigismund III Vasa, Poland-Lithuania had a period of growth and prosperity. In order to reinforce the political alliance with another giant of the time, Sigismund married two Habsburg princesses, first Anne and then Constance of Austria. This coalition allowed an important cultural exchange between the two houses; we know that some musicians were traveling from one court to another, and this mutual exchange enlightened and enriched the cultural and musical life in both countries.

Aiming to remember and pay tribute to this alliance, this program is based on two master pieces, representing respectively the Vasa and the Habsburg houses; the “Sancta Maria” mass by Marco Scacchi, and the “Magnificat VIII toni” by Johann Stadlmayr. Scacchi was the kapellmeister at the Warsaw court from 1628 to 1649, and Stadlmayr was first kapellmeister at the Salzburg court, and then, appointed directly by Archduke Maximilian III, kapellmeister at the Innsbruck court. Sancta Maria reconstructs the musical production at two of the best court chapels in Europe at the beginning of the 17th century.

Canto Fiorito

The Vilnius-based early music ensemble Canto Fiorito, directed by the internationally renowned cornetto and recorder player Rodrigo Calveyra, started its activities in 2013. The ensemble is dedicated to researching and performing Renaissance and Baroque music and pays special attention to musical life in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the 17th century.

Canto Fiorito has performed in various countries, including Norway, Austria, Slovenia, Poland, Germany, Italy, Sweden, the UK, Estonia, Latvia, and the Netherlands, and has initiated a major European project entitled “The Hanseatic Way”, funded by Creative Europe. The project includes concerts in Lithuania, as well as performances at the Brighton Early Music Festival, Hanseatic Days in Rostock, the Jeunesse festival in Vienna, the Glasperlenspiel festival in Tartu, the Bach Chamber Music Festival in Riga, and in Amsterdam.

In 2017, R. Calveyra initiated the Kretinga International Early Music Festival, dedicated to the oldest organ in Lithuania (1680) in Kretinga’s Franciscan church. Every year, the festival presents the world’s greatest artists and early music ensembles at concerts that are free of charge to the public.
Canto Fiorito places great emphasis on education in the regions of Lithuania. It has conducted residencies in the village of Paparčiai (for three years) and in the town of Kintai (for two years), engaging in continuous educational and concert activities local communities. Additionally, the ensemble has implemented an international educational project for children about historic church organs in five regional towns in Lithuania.

Canto Fiorito’s repertoire also includes opera performances, such as Alessandro Stradella’s “La Circe” and Johann Sebastiani’s “Pastorello musicale”, the earliest surviving German opera. In 2014, the ensemble released a CD entitled “Deus Deus Meus”, featuring the music of Giovanni Battista Cocciola, a composer who worked in Vilnius in the 17th century. Furthermore, in 2021, Brilliant Classics released the album “Barbara Strozzi. La voce sola”, which Canto Fiorito recorded together with the ensemble’s soloist Renata Dubinskaitė.

The artistic director Rodrigo Calveyra was born in Porto Alegre in Brazil. He studied the recorder at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis in Switzerland, and simultaneously specialised in the recorder and Medieval music under Pedro Memelsdorff at the Civica Scuola di Musica di Milano in Italy. He later took an MA in the cornetto at the Hochschule für Musik in Trossingen in Germany. Calveyra is a regular member of the renowned Cappella Mediterranea, and is musical assistant to its director Leonardo García Alarcón. He has played as a soloist and conducted orchestras in Brazil, Switzerland, Italy, Argentina and Lithuania. He performs regularly in prestigious early music festivals in Europe and South America. He was artistic director of the Brazilian-based ensemble Instrumentarium, which gave around 150 concerts in South America and Europe, with musicians such as Maria Cristina Kiehr and Manfredo Kraemer. He has recorded for labels such as Sony, Harmonia Mundi France, Alpha, Deutsche Harmonia Mundi, Ricercar, and many others.