Amsterdam Loeki Stardust Quartet

(...) Whenever I am writing a work, I face the challenge of striking a balance between ‘the freedom’ and ‘the necessity’. The equilibrium between them should not be seen as a static and still element, but as something continuously moving. This point of poise is the living heart of my work. Rather than as a ‘physical’ place within the work, it can be perceived as the meeting point of freedom and necessity. (...) Fulvio Caldini was born in Arezzo, Italy.

He studied piano with Giorgio Sacchetti at the conservatory of music in Florence and graduated in 1982.

Subsequently he went on to study harmony and counterpoint with Franco Cioci, chamber music with Franco Rossi (Quartetto Italiano) and John Blakely at King Alfred’s college, Winchester, harpsichord with Anna Maria Pernafelli and organ with Fausto D’Antimi.

The Dutch Loeki Stardust Quartet was established in 1978, and from the outset was not your ‘normal’ group of recorder-players. Sure, Baroque repertoire figured prominently in their concerts, but the concerts often contained surprises, substituting the last chord of a canzone with a well-known TV signature tune for example – in this case Loeki the Lion was the TV programme that gave the quartet its name. Wanting to give concerts that were a crossover between St Martin in the Fields and Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young was the aim in the early years.

A series of big engagements followed, including the Wigmore Hall with Christopher Hogwood, and then recordings for Decca which are included in this 4CD set. The maverick style of the group came to the fore again, when after a successful sequence of Baroque recordings they released a recording of music by Erroll Garner, Henry Mancini, Lennon and McCartney and Charlie Parker together with works by Vivaldi, Beethoven, J.C. and J.S. Bach.

Never before has the recorder sounded so much fun!