Matteis the elder: The False Consonances of Musick

"His music and his invention always oscillate between certainty and magic, the known and the impalpable. The path leading to Matteis is strewn with pitfalls because of the halo of mystery that surrounds him, but for me it has something of the initiatory quest, worthy of a fairytale, where each piece picked up en route is a pearl whose powers of evocation have been preserved intact." Amandine Beyer

Amandine Beyer – after playing known and reknown pieces (Vivaldi, Bach) – wishes to bring light and sound to lesser known composers who however contributed to the extraordinary flow of pieces for violin which prepared Bach or Vivaldi’s masterpieces. The Matteis Project presents challenging exploration of unrecorded repertoire related to the fantasticus style of germany, italy and england.

Nicola Matteis is an outstanding figure who crossed Europe by foot from Naples to London where he contributed to develop the violin to brillant virtuosity before Pisendel and Bach’s Sonatas and Partitas.

Amandine Beyer – puzzled by iconographies of Matteis holding the violin very low – decided to change her technique for this recording. “convinced that, in a musician-composer, musical technique and invention are closely connected, and that if we try to get as close as possible to the way Matteis himself played, it can have a drastic influence on the performer’s musical gesture.”Amandine Beyer

A video extra shot in Tibaes monastery in North Portugal explains her approach to his music.