"This small world, codified, gallant and domestic hides an enchantment that the young Portuguese ensemble impeccably reveals. Pulp, sweetness, light, all the essential qualities already leave nothing to be desired."

Ivan A. Alexandre in Diapason - 05/2012

Ludovice Ensemble is a Portuguese Early Music group, based in Lisbon. Fernando Miguel Jalôto and Joana Amorim created the ensemble in 2004 and it has since become a reference point in the Portuguese Early Music scene, being known for the high quality of its performances, the coherence of its artistic projects, and the novelty of its programs and proposals, which combine creativity, a passionate approach to the repertoire, and a historically informed interpretation. A very special attention is given to unknown works, and the regular modern première of hidden Portuguese, French, German, English and Italian treasures is part of the ensemble's strategy. The group regularly invites some of the best Portuguese performers and often collaborates with foreign artists of exceptional quality - musicians but also actors, mimes and dancers. Since 2021 Ludovice Ensemble is a member of REMA - Réseau Européen pour la Musique Ancienne.

Ludovice Ensemble has performed at several important venues and international music festivals in Portugal, and is a regular guest in prestigious seasons like Gulbenkian Foundation and CCB - Lisbon's Cultural Centre. They perform regularly in Spain (Early Music Festivals of Aranjuez, Catalan Pyrenees, Vitoria-Gasteiz, Daroca, Peñíscola, Jaca; Real Coliseo Carlos III at San Lorenzo del Escorial, Circulo de las Artes de Lugo and Festival Iberico de Badajoz); Belgium (AMUZ in Antwerp and MA Brugge); The Netherlands (Oude Muziek Festival in Utrecht); France (La Chaise-Dieu, Vivarais-Lignon, Festes Baroques); Czech Republic (Summer Festivities of Early Music in Prague), Ireland (by invitation of the Portuguese Embassy in Dublin) and Israel (Felicja Blumenthal Festival in Tel-Aviv and Jerusalem). Ludovice Ensemble has been recorded live on the Portuguese Broadcast Company and the French Television Channel MEZZO. Ludovice Ensemble's first CD with an exquisite selection of French Baroque Cantatas recorded for Ramée/Outhere received a warm welcome from the general public and the specialized press, being nominated to the ICMA (International Classical Music Awards) in 2013 and recommended in 2019 as one of the best world recordings of this repertoire by Diapason magazine in France. They just released a new double-album with sonatas for traverso and obligatto harpsichord by the Graun brothers for the British label Veterum Musica.

Ludovice Ensemble's repertoire includes a great variety of works such as: Vespro della Beata Vergine by C. Monteverdi; La Liberazione di Ruggiero dall'isola d'Alcina by Francesca Caccini; Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme and Idylle sur la paix by J.-B. Lully; Les Arts Florissants, Messe de Minuit, various sets of Leçons de Ténèbres and the Méditations por la Carême by M.-A. Charpentier; Cain ovvero il primo omicidio by A. Scarlatti; diverse Cantatas, Lutheran Masses and Concertos by J. S. Bach; ballet music by Rébel, Rameau, Handel and Debussy; Sephardic-Jewish baroque music; Roman orchestral music by Corelli, Stradella and Pasquini; and a great amount of chamber music from late Renaissance to early Classic period. Recent engagements included the production of Timon of Athens by Purcell in Lisbon's CCB with Teatro Praga; a chamber version of J.-B. Lully opera Phaëton in the prestigious festival MA Brugge (Belgium); Bach Cantatas at Alcobaça International Festival (Portugal); and an exquisite selection of Portuguese, Spanish and French 17th century music, combined in a new programme - Sudexpress - specifically created for the Mustonenfest in Tallin, Estonia. Future appointments include various concerts in Spain with Portuguese Renaissance Music; a new project at Tel-Aviv combining Portuguese baroque and folk music; and the be present in various Portuguese festivals with a great variety of programmes including a selection of Bach arias for bass, Charpentier's Leçons and Motets, J. S. Bach's masterpiece, the Musikalisches Opfer, and a lavish programme of Venetian sacred music by Monteverdi and Rovetta in collaboration with the Gulbenkian Choir.

In Portugal Ludovice Ensemble has performed at several important venues (Gulbenkian Foundation, CCB and Casa da Música) and international music festivals, but it also often performs in Spain (Early Music Festivals of Vitoria, San lorenzo del Escorial, Daroca, Peñíscola, Jaca and Lugo);
Belgium (AMUZ in Antwerp); Holland (Oude Muziek Festival in Utrecht); France (La Chaise-Dieu and Vivarais-Lignon Festivals) and Czech Republic (Summer Festivities of Early Music in Prague).

Agenda