Carpe Diem Ensemble Geneva concert on September 27, 2026: The Mad Lover
The title of our concert,” The Mad Lover”, borrowed from Nicola Matteis, opens a musical journey where romantic passion oscillates between tenderness, pain, and rebellion. Pepusch's cantatas give voice to a lover overwhelmed by love and devastated by Celia's contempt. To soothe his torment, he takes refuge in nature and implores the god of Love to ease his suffering.
But the divine response reverses the situation: he must cease being a slave, despise the Cruel One, win her back, or abandon her. Why pursue a beauty who flees and refuses the only remedy for suffering? The lover then decides to reclaim his wounded heart and free himself from her power.
Sonatas for recorder, viola da gamba, and harpsichord will alternate with cantatas, offering instrumental interludes where virtuosity and poetry converse with the torments of the heart.
At the end of the 17th century, London was a city of constant activity: theaters proliferated, private salons hosted concerts, and musicians from all over Europe settled there. Tonight's concert invites you to discover four composers who left their mark on this period: Pepusch, Eccles, Finger, and Matteis. Each brings a different flavor, but all contributed to making London a major musical center.
They represent four facets of London Baroque: erudition, theater, the intimacy of chamber music, and Italian virtuosity. Their encounter in this program offers you a journey to the heart of a city where styles intersect, respond to one another, and enrich each other.