Théotime Langlois de Swarte, Violin and Thomas Dunford, Lute

Violinist Théotime Langlois de Swarte and lutenist Thomas Dunford illuminate aspects of the elusive amalgamation that is the 17th century English notion of melancholy. The inconsolable “Mad Lover” of this program is reimagined as a character from the reign of Charles II. His tale is told through music from the pen of such violin virtuosos as the prodigiously gifted Nicola Matteis. Heightened by the exuberance and abandon common to those musicians transplanted from Italy, the beguiling nuances of this language of yearning and loss continue to echo in the popular music of our time. The program includes works by Eccles, Matteis, Purcell, and more. The Strad praised their “Mad Lover” album as a “stunner by any standard.”

Tickets: $30 general public | $20 Middlebury ID holders/PASS Members | $10 youth (under 21) | $5 Middlebury students. Reserved seating. Tickets on sale in September: http://go.middlebury.edu/tickets

Approximate running time: 1 hour, 45 minutes, including 1 intermission

About the Artists:
Théotime Langlois de Swarte, Violin
“Ambassador of the Year 2022” of the REMA European Early Music Network, ICMA Awards 2022 for Mad Lover (Instrumental category), and winner of the Diapason d’Or of the Year 2022 for his Vivaldi-Locatelli-Leclair album and of numerous other awards, Théotime Langlois de Swarte has rapidly carved out a place for himself among the violinists of his generation on both modern and period instruments. His concerto repertory includes works by Baroque composers as well as Haydn and Mozart. He has performed in such prestigious venues as the Philharmonie de Paris, the Vienna Musikverein, the Berlin Philharmonie, Walt Disney Hall in Los Angeles, the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Shanghai, Carnegie Hall, and Wigmore Hall, in the company of Holland Baroque, Les Ombres, and Le Consort, and also with the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra on his first solo tour of Australia in 2023. With Les Arts Florissants, of which he was once a member, he now performs as a soloist; he directed the orchestra from the violin in Vivaldi’s Four Seasons on a North American tour in the spring of 2025.

In recital, Théotime Langlois de Swarte is a regular partner of William Christie (with whom he released the album ‘Générations’ in 2021) and Justin Taylor, with whom he founded the Baroque ensemble Le Consort. With the lutenist Thomas Dunford and the pianist Tanguy de Willencourt, he has recorded The Mad Lover and Proust, Le concert retrouvé respectively. With the Trio Dichter, his other chamber ensemble, he recently released “An Invitation at the Schumanns.” Alongside his solo career, Théotime Langlois de Swarte appeared as a conductor at the Opéra Comique in two productions in 2023: Lully’s Le Bourgeois gentilhomme and Grétry’s Zémire et Azor. Théotime Langlois de Swarte is a laureate of the Fondation Banque Populaire. He plays a Jacob Stainer violin of 1665 loaned to him by the Jumpstart Foundation.  “Performances so special that I feel a changed man from listening” —Mark Seow, Gramophone. Learn more about Théotime Langlois de Swarte: https://www.theotimeviolin.com/

Thomas Dunford is one of the most versatile and in-demand lutenists of today, both as a soloist and ensemble musician. Hailed as the “Eric Clapton of the lute” (BBC Music Magazine), he is renowned for his inventive programming and sensitive ensemble playing. He has given solo recitals at major concert halls throughout the world including Carnegie Hall in New York, London’s Wigmore Hall, Washington, DC’s Kennedy Center, and Palau de la Musica Barcelona, and has made festival appearances at Utrecht, Saintes, Nantes, Montpellier, and Ambronay, amongst others. He plays regularly with leading period instrument ensembles including Les Arts Florissants, Arcangelo, Les Siecles, Le Concert Spirituel, and Collegium Vocale Gent. Key collaborators include soloists Iestyn Davies, Isabelle Faust, Anne-Sofie von Otter, Jean Rondeau, and Lea Desandre; and conductors Philippe Herreweghe, William Christie, Jonathan Cohen, Trevor Pinnock, and Sir John Eliot Gardiner.

Thomas Dunford founded the period instrument ensemble Jupiter in 2018. Born out of a desire to bring freedom and great creativity to early music, the ensemble includes some of the brightest talents of the period instrument scene today. Their first recording of Vivaldi was released to great critical acclaim and was followed by “Amazone,” a recording of rare French and Italian arias from the 17th and 18th centuries. Their most recent release is “Eternal Heaven,” Handel arias performed by Iestyn Davies and Lea Desandre. Thomas’ first solo recording “Lachrimae” was awarded the Caecilia Prize in 2013, with his followup recording “Labirinto d’Amore” gaining the “Choc” award from Classica Magazine. The critically acclaimed album The Mad Lover with violinist Théotime Langlois de Swarte won the 2022 International Classical Music Award (ICMA) in the Baroque Instrumental category. Thomas Dunford studied at the Conservatoire de Paris and the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis with Hopkinson Smith. “The best lutenist since Dowland himself”—The Times (of London). Learn more about Thomas Dunford: https://www.thomas-dunford.com/

Program:
Théotime Langlois de Swarte, Violin
Thomas Dunford, Lute

“The Mad Lover”

JOHN ECCLES Aire from The Mad Lover suite (Aire V)

DANIEL PURCELL Sonata in F Minor
Adagio — Allegro — Adagio — Vivace

Improvisation (lute solo)

 NICOLA MATTEIS Folia

NICOLA MATTEIS JR. Fantasia in A Minor

NICOLA MATTEIS Suite in A Minor 
Sarabanda Amorosa (First book of Ayres for the Violin)

NICOLA MATTEIS Suite in C Major 
Diverse bizarrerie sopra la Vecchia Sarabanda I pur Ciaconna (First book of Ayres for the Violin)

DALZA Calata

JOHN ECCLES:  Aire from The Mad Lover suite (Aire III)

HENRY PURCELL Prélude in G Minor, ZN. 773

HENRY ECCLES Sonata in G Minor
Grave - Courante - Adagio - Vivace

NICOLA MATTEIS Suite in G Major (2nd Book of Ayres for the Violin)
Preludio — Aria Burlesca — Sarabanda — Giga Al Genio Turchesco

HENRY ECCLES Sonata Quinta in E Minor

HENRY ECCLES A new division upon the ground bass of John Come and Kiss me

Sponsored by the Performing Arts Series, the Paul Nelson Performance Endowment, and the Rothrock Family Residency Fund.

Learn more about the artists:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theotimeviolin
https://www.facebook.com/ThomasDunfordLute/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theotimelangloisdeswarte
https://www.instagram.com/thomasdunford/
Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/@theotimelangloisdeswarte6140
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRDNBJxv2BMCtZhB00_Jwgg
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/intl-fr/artist/5cBgAWdOSP0eY36MX6sfy5?si=6NdLp…
https://open.spotify.com/intl-fr/artist/7ICHkzLMTkSFuLwyzXI5i1#_=_
Watch a video:  https://youtu.be/rQH3udsV6eI?si=R4Fa3ilwordDHajo

Performance subject to change.