LA FOLLIA

The question arises: is Aléxis Cárdenas mad? Mad about the violin and mad about music – that much is certain. But on stage, he sometimes whistles or sings… has he gone mad? Doesn’t he know that classical music is meant to be listened to in religious silence, and that even the slightest feather falling to the floor disturbs the audience’s listening experience?

Like us, Aléxis believes that what is truly mad is having confined ‘classical music’ within strict and rigid codes reserved for the initiated. It’s mad to have done that, and it’s mad to have forgotten the excitement and the element of improvisation that could be found at concerts during the Baroque era. It’s also mad to have called ‘classical’ something that wasn’t. Baroque music isn’t classical… and neither is Romantic music!

Vivaldi’s violin concertos are bursting with energy; Tartini’s ‘Devil’s Trill’ already hints in its title at the madness that runs through it (unless you imagine the Devil to be wise and classical?), as for the ‘Follia’…let’s see… what on earth could this strange word from another world possibly mean?

Come and let your hair down with us and Aléxis. Baroque music is a constant burst of energy. Think of it as a fireworks display. All we need to do is let Aléxis light the fuse.