G.A.P. Ensemble

Although based in Germany, the Baroque specialists of the G.A.P. Ensemble are an international group with members from Macedonia, Italy, and Catalonia. The ensemble is named for the 18th century Italian violin virtuoso and composer Giovanni Antonio Piani. The G.A.P. Ensemble was formed in 2011 by violinist Emilio Percan, cellist Oriol Aymat-Fusté, and harpsichordist Luca Quintavalle. All three members have distinguished careers as soloists; Quintavalle has regularly accompanied mezzo-soprano Cecilia Bartoli, while Aymat-Fusté has worked with leading Catalan pop musicians, and Percan is in international demand as an educator and teaches at the Kalaidos Fachhochschule in Switzerland and the Graz University of the Arts in Austria. The group immediately gained attention and recorded the album Affettuoso in 2012, featuring sonatas by Handel, Francesco Geminiani, and the ensemble's namesake composer, who, despite the Baroque music revival, has remained almost unknown. In the spring of 2014, the group delved further into Piani's music, collaborating with soprano Raffaella Milanesi on the Pan Classics album I Musicisti dell'Imperatore; the album featured cantatas by Piani, Vivaldi, Antonio Caldara, and Alessandro Scarlatti. The G.A.P. Ensemble has also performed in larger works such as operas, oratorios, cantatas, and instrumental pieces. The G.A.P. Ensemble's list of top-rank collaborators is long and includes violinists Viktoria Mullova and Daniel Hope, Bartoli, and keyboardist/conductor Christophe Rousset. The group has appeared at such venues as the Philharmonie in Berlin, the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, the Tokyo Opera City Center Hall, and the Palau de la Música in Barcelona. The G.A.P. Ensemble has made several more recordings; it released Vivaldi per Pisendel, featuring Vivaldi violin concertos written for the virtuoso Johann Georg Pisendel, on Pan Classics in 2016. The group returned on Brilliant Classics in 2024, backing soprano Dorothee Mields on the album J.S. Bach & D. Shostakovich: Salvation.
© James Manheim /TiVo