Contrarco Baroque Ensemble was founded in a tiny but musically very active town named Castelfranco Veneto, 40 kilometres away from Venice. All the members of the group studied at the same conservatory and have been exposed to the same experiences and music education since their childhood, building up a musical sensibility in the same way. For this reason, since the first
rehearsals, Contrarco had already a personal and easily recognizable sound and style.
The musicians of the group studied afterwards in some of the most prestigious universities specialized in early music, such as: Schola Cantorum Basiliensis, Universität Mozarteum Salzburg, Koninklijk Conservatorium Den Haag. Remarkable are the collaborations with some of the most important groups specialized in the baroque repertoire, such as: I Sonatori de la Gioiosa Marca, Venice Baroque Orchestra, European Union Baroque Orchestra, Akademie für Alte Musik Brüneck, La Cetra Barockorchester, Accademia Bizantina, LaBarocca and Il Pomo d’Oro.
Contrarco’s personal philosophy is the constant search for a “speaking” way of playing, as well as a tireless search for harmonic and rhetorical details, in order to take every piece to the limits of its expressive possibilities.
Among the several concerts the group has been invited to play in some important early music festivals, such as Urbino Musica Antica (Italy), Alte Musik Live Berlin (Germany), 28 Chairs (USA).
"A performance full of brilliance, exuberance and invention. Contrarco showed a high level of specialization and competence, together with a strong connection among the musicians themselves. They gave totally new energy and life to these lesser known works of the 17th and 18th centuries."
Amadeus Online
Claudio Rado, Mauro Spinazzè, violins
Simone Siviero, viola
Giulio Padoin, cello
Michele Gallo, violone
Alberto Busettini, harpsichord