“The Labyrinth and Other Stories”

On December 19, Paliesius Manor invites you on a journey through the labyrinths of early music! Renowned musician Paolo Pandolfo will play the viola da gamba, joined by Andrea Buccarella on the harpsichord and Thomas Boysen on the lute and baroque guitar.

You will hear the music of Marin Marais, distinguished by its incredible evocative power and narrative labyrinths. Among the pieces is the renowned “Le Labyrinthe,” a rare example of an “enharmonic labyrinth” that traverses every possible tonality. In eighteenth-century chronicles, this work was described as a fantastic tale of a man lost in a maze, swept through a myriad of emotions—from fear to illusion, from despair to hope. Yet the story’s end is unexpectedly joyous: a charming chaconne that gracefully returns to the original key of A major.

M. Marais’s inventive imagination is truly volcanic and breathtaking. As you listen to his music, you will hear everything from the bagpipe-like echoes of a musette to the airy lightness of “Le jeu du Volant”—a piece depicting an early version of the game we now know as badminton. One can almost see the feathered shuttlecock dancing from one side of the court to the other, soaring up and down… From the imitation of a guitar—an instrument much beloved by Louis XIV—that mimics a folk-song accompaniment, to a poignant encounter with mortality in the striking musical epitaph mourning the loss of his son (“Tombeau pour Marais le Cadet”). From a dramatic musical recounting of a surgical operation the composer himself had to endure, to a swirling gust of wind and notes in “Tourbillon”…

Viola da gamba player Paolo Pandolfo has been called “one of the brightest and most poetic of the instrument’s contemporary players” (L. Kemp, “Gramophone”, United Kingdom). For three decades, the musician’s passionate love for his instrument has inspired him to explore every facet of the viola da gamba.

Having gained significant experience in both jazz and classical music, Paolo Pandolfo stepped into the world of early music around 1979, alongside violinist Enrico Gatti and harpsichordist Rinaldo Alessandrini. He studied under Jordi Savall at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis in Switzerland. From 1982 to 1990, he was a member of Savall’s ensemble Hesperion XX, performing across the globe, giving hundreds of concerts, and releasing dozens of recordings. Together, they traversed an exceptionally broad repertoire, spanning from the early Renaissance to the late Baroque.

In 1990, he released C. P. E. Bach’s sonatas for viola da gamba, thus launching his international career as a soloist. That same year, P. Pandolfo was appointed as a professor at his alma mater. He has since continued to cultivate and expand the tradition of the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis, which is distinguished by its international excellence in viola da gamba research and pedagogy.

The musician has released numerous CDs, focusing primarily on the solo viol repertoire (M. Marais, A. Forqueray, M. de St. Colombe, T. Hume, C. F. Abel, J. S. Bach, De Machy, F. Couperin, and others). His adaptation of J. S. Bach’s “Six Solo Suites” for the viol immediately became an essential recording in any comprehensive Bach discography, and to this day it remains a touchstone in many academic and artistic contexts.

An interest in historical improvisation led him to the project “Improvisando: 17th Century Jazz.” P. Pandolfo is also deeply committed to contemporary music and composition (“Travel Notes,” “Kind of Satie,” “Violatango,” and others). His most recent major projects include “Regina Bastarda” (a performance and research endeavor exploring the virtuosic and profoundly poetic music for the Italian viol circa 1600), “A Sentimental Journey” (performing Carl Friedrich Abel’s pre-classical sonatas with basso continuo), and “To the World” (featuring all of Alfonso Ferrabosco’s solo “Lyra-Viol Lessons”). His forthcoming project, “Flow our Tears,” is scheduled for release toward the end of 2026; it will showcase P. Pandolfo’s original compositions, dedicated to and inspired by the new wave of inhumanity the world has been experiencing in recent years.

The musician’s recordings have earned numerous awards from major music magazines worldwide. P. Pandolfo is frequently invited to give concerts and masterclasses across the globe. He continuously strives to build bridges between the past and the present, always blending rigorous philological interpretation with spontaneity and vitality in his performances.

He remains convinced that the heritage of early music, combined with revitalized improvisational skills, can become a powerful source of inspiration for the future of the Western musical tradition.

Andrea Buccarella is an Italian conductor, harpsichordist, and organist, internationally acclaimed as one of the leading figures in historically informed performance among the new generation of specialists.

In 2018, he won First Prize and the Outhere Award at the MA Festival Brugge International Harpsichord Competition. Following this success, he launched an intensive international career, performing as both soloist and conductor at major festivals and concert halls across Europe, the United States, Latin America, and Japan.

Since 2012, he has served as the artistic and musical director of the Abchordis Ensemble, with whom he has undertaken numerous projects dedicated to the rediscovery of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century repertoire. Many of these projects have culminated in modern premieres and world-premiere recordings. Under his direction, the ensemble was awarded First Prize at the 2015 International Handel Competition in Göttingen.

In addition to his work with the Abchordis Ensemble, Andrea Buccarella is frequently invited as a guest conductor for prominent period-instrument ensembles and orchestras. These include the Venice Baroque Orchestra, Il Pomo d’Oro, the La Cetra Barockorchester Basel, the National Symphony Orchestra of Colombia, and the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis Orchestra.

His most important upcoming engagements include G. F. Handel’s opera “Atalanta” at the Innsbruck Festival of Early Music and a European tour of N. Porpora’s opera “Mitridate” with the Il Pomo d’Oro ensemble during the 2026–2027 season.

Both as a soloist and as a conductor, he has recorded numerous critically acclaimed albums with record labels such as Deutsche Harmonia Mundi / Sony Classical, Challenge Classics, Glossa, and Naïve for “The Vivaldi Edition” series. His recordings have garnered major international accolades, including the Diapason d’Or, Gramophone Editor’s Choice, Choc de Classica, and Scherzo Excepcional.

Thomas C. Boysen was born in 1970 in Oslo, Norway, into a family of musicians. He studied classical guitar and lute at the Norwegian Academy of Music. After earning his diploma there in 1995, he moved to Germany to study under Prof. Rolf Lislevand at the State University of Music Trossingen.

After completing his studies, the musician established himself as a highly regarded soloist and continuo player. He has collaborated with the Balthasar-Neumann-Ensemble, Collegium Vocale – Gent, Armonico Tributo Austria, Le Poème Harmonique, Akademie für Alte Musik – Berlin, the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra, Emma Kirkby, Rolf Lislevand, Paolo Pandolfo, and various other ensembles and artists. He has performed in numerous European countries, the USA, Hong Kong, Mexico, South Korea, Colombia, and Cuba, and has participated in recording over 70 CDs with labels such as Glossa, Naive, Sony, Harmonia Mundi, and K617.

He has led summer courses and masterclasses in Germany, Romania, Austria, Switzerland, Mexico, the USA, and Norway, and currently teaches lute at the Mozarteum University in Salzburg, Austria.