PROGRAM DESCRIPTION
Silvius Leopold Weiss, regarded today and in his own time as the finest lutenist and lute composer of the German high baroque, is best known for his expressive solo music. But he also composed duets, just five of which survive. Four of these, held where Weiss worked in the collection of the Dresden royal court, come in incomplete form: for each duet, though composed from beginning to end, only one of its two parts survive. Duo Silvio brings these four dazzling Dresden works to life, playing the duets with their missing parts meticulously restored. Philadelphia’s Chestnut Hill Local described the duets as “characterized by gracious elegance, effortless charm,” and played by Duo Silvio “with expert dexterity, consummate phrasing and endearing expressivity.”
ENSEMBLE BIO
Duo Silvio is a collaboration between lutenists Richard Stone and Cameron Welke dedicated to the exploration of music for two baroque lutes. Richard Stone is the co-founder and co-director of Philadelphia-based baroque orchestra Tempesta di Mare, the professor of baroque lute and theorbo at the Peabody Institute, and a highly sought-after soloist and continuo player. Cameron Welke is an active freelance performer who has worked with diverse ensembles such as the Washington Bach Consort, Tempesta di Mare, Relic, the Folger Consort, Hesperus, and others. The ensemble premiered in 2019 with Stone’s reconstructions of lute duets by Sylvius Leopold Weiss, and are excited now to bring the lute duet repertoire to audiences everywhere. Learn more at www.duosilvio.com.
