Projects

In their new program, the duo explores the transition of the lied from late Romanticism to the modern era. It features compositions by Hugo Wolf, Manuel de Falla, Cécile Chaminade and Benjamin Britten, all of whom have made significant contributions to musical development in their own unique ways. Additionally, selected works with folk song characteristics shape the program, reflecting the passion of the four composers for the musical history of their homelands. The soprano and the guitarist guide the audience through the program with their commentary, taking them on a journey through a piece of music history.

Our new programme is dedicated to a revival of 19th century Swiss Ländler, waltzes and folk songs. We will play on two very special instruments: the “tschakan” – a walking stick flute that enjoyed particular popularity in large parts of Switzerland and Austria in the early 19th century – and a original romantic guitar from the 1820s. The St. Gallen-born musician and composer Ferdinand F. Huber has left a big legacy of compositions for melody and accompanying instruments. They perfectly convey the atmosphere of the cultural and musical world of rural Switzerland of his times and they are quite a literal invitation to dance! Apart from Huber’s beautiful compositions, our “Swiss Suite 1821” includes pieces by Austrian and French composers of Huber’s times. With this programme, we take our listeners on a musical journey offering a special and different listening experience.

The duo dedicates this programme to Romantic songs oft the early and mid-19th century. We hear the „music of lovers“ from Spain, France, England, Italy and Germany. Between the various songs, the singer and the guitarist read love letters from the Romantic period and the respective countries.

The two musicians have designed their programme as a dialogue between the styles oft two epochs. The alternation of modern and historical instruments highlights both the characteristic verve of the early 19^th century salon music as well as the innate passion of Piazzolla’s tango compositions. The resulting tonal intimacy takes the listener on an exceptional acoustic journey.

“Schmidt und Makarenko lassen ein spannendes Spiel entstehen, sind einander stets zugewandt, fordern sich heraus, feuern sich an, fangen sich wieder ein und freuen sich an dem, was da entsteht. Beide Musiker beherrschen ihr Instrument virtuos und ergänzen sich aufs Beste.”
Südkurier

“Glanzvoll und inspirierend!”
Die Oberbadische

This composition of Steve Reich, originally for four violins, was arranged by Philipp Schmidt for guitar and audio tape as well as for four guitars. It can be ordered at the publisher’s house Universal Edition.

Order it here

“This version is quite good, I congratulate Philipp Schmidt on a beautiful arrangement!”
Steve Reich

This solo guitar album was recorded in 2010 in the recording studio of the Musikakademie Basel, under the supervision of Thomas Resch. The programme consists of pieces ranging from the second half of the 20th century to the beginning of the 21st century. Except for the compositions by two contemporary Swiss composers, the recorded works contain many elements of minimalist music, thus forming the focal point of this album. The compositions are from Leo Brouwer, Rudolf Kelterborn, Bruce McCombie, Madeleine Ruggli and Steve Reich.

Audio

The programme of “…nur eine Rose als Stütze” was arranged by Monica Nelson. It features an exciting interplay of speech, music and movement based on compositions by Sehan Gion Sco, Richard R. Bennet, Rudolf Kelterborn, Alberto Ginastera, Alexandre Tansmann and Joaquín Rodrigo as well as texts by Hilde Domin, Dag Hammerskjöld and Juan Ramón Jiménez.

Duo Bellarmin was founded in 2010. In addition to a repertoire of baroque and romantic music, the ensemble is passionately dedicated to Spanish music for voice and guitar. Furthermore, the musicians focus on unknown compositions or experimentations with unusual instrumentations, as e.g. Franz Schubert’s “Die Schöne Müllerin.” Their concerts and performances have taken them to numerous cities in Switzerland and abroad.

The members of the Quintacorda ensemble were brought together by their common fascination for classical and early Romantic music which they perform on both original instruments and copies of historical instruments. Their actual programme includes the Fandango quintet by Luigi Boccherini (1743-1805) and the A-major guitar concerto by Mauro Giuliani (1781-1829) in a quintet arrangement for string quartet and guitar.