The Ensemble
Allegoria Ensemble is an early music group of musicians specialized in the performance of the Italian and Spanish Baroque repertoire. Their programs include vocal and instrumental works from the 17th Century.
The ensemble was founded in 2009 in the Netherlands and its members come from Spain, Italy and Israel. They have collaborated, among others, with Al Ayre Español, Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, de Nederlandse Bachvereniging, and have given concerts all over the world.
The special combination of bowed and plucked string instruments provides a wide range of charming timbres: the violone, the baroque guitar, the archlute and the theorbo alternate accompanying and soloist functions, allowing the group to showcase many different colors and nuances in its sound. The most communicative task is held by the dramatic intensity and vocal features of Elisenda Pujals, in combination with another soprano part taken by the violin. The group also includes a set of historical percussions.
They partecipated in several music festivals, such as the Festival de Música Antiga de Barcelona, the Ibero-American Music Festival in Cáceres, the Festival de Música Antiga Peniscola and the Reinken Music Festival, among others.
In December 2014 they released their first CD entitled L’Anima Oscura, containing Italian 17th Century music chosen among the most intense and sinister pages of composers who ended up having a dramatic relation with death.
The Musicians
Elisenda Pujals, voice
Elisenda began her music studies as a violin player, receiving her Teaching Degree in 2000 at the Conservatori Professional de Vilaseca. In 2010 she graduated from the Royal Conservatory in The Hague, obtaining her Master's degree in singing.
She has studied both Baroque and Contemporary music with Maria Acda, Barbara Hannigan, Michael Chance and Peter Kooij. She works with such early music specialists as Jos van Veldhoven, Eduardo López Banzo and Jaap ter Linden. She performs regularly with Vozes de Al Ayre Español.
As a contemporary music singer she has collaborated with some of the most leading ensembles such as the Ereprijs Orkest, Slagwerk Den Haag and Vocaal Lab, performing in the Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ and the Bimhuis among other venues. She performed with Reinbert de Leeuw, Jurjen Hempel and Wim Vos.
Recently she has performed the opera WOW! by Alberto Garcia Demestres at theFestival de Peralada. By the same composer, she premiered last July the opera l'Eclipsiat the Teatre Nacional de Catalunya. This season she will perform Faure's Requiem with Orquestra Simfònica de Barcelona i Nacional de Catalunya conducted by Emmanuel Krivine.
Luca Alfonso Rizzello, violin
Luca Alfonso Rizzello graduated in Violin in
Bari (Italy) with Franco Cristofoli, in Baroque Violin in Lecce (Italy) with Doriano Longo and in
Piacenza (Italy) with Enrico Gatti. In Den Haag (Netherlands), still specializing with Enrico Gatti,
he got the Degree at the Royal Conservatoire.
He has attended chamber music and baroque orchestra courses at the International
Academy of Music in Milan and has attended master classes in France, Spain, Netherlands and
Italy. He regularly performs with chamber music ensembles and orchestras in Italy, Europe and
Argentina. He has performed in various festivals such as MiTo in Milan, Grandezze e Meraviglie in
Modena, Utrecht Fringe Festival, Reincken Festival in Deventer, Granada Musica Festival, Grad
Teatar in Budva and Ars and Musica Antiqua in Perast.
He has played, among many, with the Orchestre Français des Jeunes Baroque conducted by Christophe Rousset, the Academia Montis Regalis in Mondovì, Collegium Musicum Den Haag, Le Chardon, Orfeo Futuro with Alessandro Ciccolini, Opera 2day with Hernan Schvartzman, Concerto Soave with Jean-Marc Aymes, Silete Venti with Simone Toni, The Bach Orchestra of Nederlands with Pieter Jan Leusink, Ensemble Pian & Forte with Antonio Frigè, and Concerto Aventino with Jakub Kydlíček.
He is interested in XVII Century’s Italian and German music. As a dissertation for his
master studies in Piacenza, in 2010 he wrote a thesis about Antonio Bertali and the collection of Sonatas “Prothimia Suavissima”, 1672. He has published for “Musedita”.
Guzmán Ramos, archlute & theorbo
Began his musical studies at the Conservatorio Jesús de Monasterio where he completed his professional diploma in classical guitar with Julian Lopez.
His interest in early music on plucked strings then took him to Madrid to study with Jesus
Sanchez, to receive a professional diploma in this discipline as well. During this period, he
participated in numerous medieval, renaissance and baroque music projects, such as Maledicantus,
Upsala and Cuatro de Melyor, as well as with the Classical theatre company La Recua. He also
performed with the Arturo Soria's Baroque Orchestra in productions such as The Fairy Queen by Purcell and Mateo Fecha's Ensaladas.
In 2007, he went to The Netherlands to complete his Bacherlor´s iin music under Joachim Held and Mike Fentross. There, he has played with the Koninklijk Conservatorium ensemble in projects such as Handel´s Agrippina with Michael Chance, Musae Sionae by Praetorius, the Maria Vespers, Rigatti Vespers with Charles Toet, and Messe des Morts by Charpetier, with Phillipe Pierlot among others.
He performed in some of the most important European early music festivals such as HollandFestival, Reincken Festival, Utrecht Festival, Festival Musicale Estense, Festival de musica antigua de Peñiscola and festival antiqva.In 2008 he cofounded Allegoria ensemble, focus on Italian and Spanish baroque music.
Robert Cases, theorbo & baroque guitar
Completed his classical guitar studies in the conservatory of Valencia with MªAngeles Abad,
AntonioGalindo and José Lázaro. He did several courses with Ricardo Gallén , David Russell,
Roberto Ausell, Manuel Barrueco, Hopkinson Smithand Eduardo Egüez, among others. Later on,
he studied early plucked instruments in the conservatory Arturo Soria in Madrid with Jesus
Sánchez, in the Conservatorium van Amsterdam with Fred Jacobs and in the Koninklijk
Conservatorium in Den Haag with Mike Fentross and Joachim Held.
He is member of the early music ensembles Rotterdam Baroque Ensemble and Allegoria.
He collaborated with ensembles such as Kinderkoor Academie Netherland, COQU ensemble, Harmonia del Parnàs, Capella Saetabis,
Grup ricercare and de Nederlandse Bachverenging, among others. He performed in the opera Agrippina, by G.F.Handel, conducted by H. Schwartzman and at the world premiére of the opera El mayor triunfo de la mayor guerra, by M.Ferreira, conducted byM.R.Montagut.
Hen Goldsobel, violone
Comleted his studies at the "Hans Eisler" Hochschule fur musik Berlin, Germany. In the
Netherlands he completed his Bachelor and Master degree in Early Music at the Royal Conservatory Den haag ,the Netherlands, specializing on the different Violone Instruments between 16 to 19 centuries, 8 foot violone , classical violone (Viennese tuning) and contrabss. Played with ensembles such as Collegium Musicum Den haag, Nedelandse Bach Vereneging, Nieuwe philharmonie Utrecht, Rias kammerchor, Balthazar Neumann Ensemble, Akadmie fur alte musik , Berlin and Ottetto ensemble among others. Working with conductors such as Christian
Raddeman, Atilio Cremonesi , Thomas Hengelbrock, Nikolaus Harnocourt,Jos Van Veldhoven,
Rene Jacob among others.
Took part in early music festivals such as: Utrech (Netherlands), Melk (Austria), Brugge
(Belgium), Bougne (France), Aix-en-Provence (France), zeit Fenster (Berlin) and others.
Pere Olivé, percussions
A percussionist who collects the freshness of the oral musical tradition of his country and the
academicism of the classical percussion. Pere holds a degree in historical percussion and Catalan
traditional music by ESMUC where he studied with Pedro Estevan.
On the other hand, he has also been under the instruction of other teachers from around the
world like Andrea Piccioni, Michael Metzler, Mauricio Molina, Scott Robinson, Yshai Afterman,
David Kuckermann and Glen Velez.
Pere combines the teaching of percussion instruments at different schools of Catalonia with
professional playing. He is part of various groups: So Nat grallers de Tarragona, Deriva Errant,
Mirna and Vespres d'Arnadí .
He has also collaborated with ensembles such as Al Ayre español, les Sacqueboutiers,Hespérion XXI and Le Concert des Nations. He has recorded around twenty CD's which range from traditional music and early music to contemporary music.