The Ensemble L’Homme Armé
The Ensemble L’Homme Armé
The Ensemble L’Homme Armé, based in Florence, Italy, is composed of musicians and singers who are specialized in the performance of the early music repertoire. Founder and regular conductor of the ensemble is Fabio Lombardo. Collaborations with several important musicians/conductors have been established throughout L’Homme Armé’s carreer (Frans Bruggen, Christophe Coin, Andrew Parrott, Kees Boeke, Alan Curtis). In recent years Andrew Lawrence-King has conducted the ensemble in several important productions.
L’Homme Armé’s ensemble can vary from a vocal quartet to a large ensemble composed of soloists, choir and orchestra in relation to the musical repertoire to be performed. (Available programmes)
Recognized as one the major Italian ensembles in its field, L’Homme Armé is regularly invited to perform at some of the main Festivals of Renaissance and Baroque music and has collaborated with prestigeous musical institutions (Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Orchestra della Toscana, etc.).
In 2000, on the occasion of the National Celebrations for the birth of Opera, L’Homme Armé has produced the Intermedi della Pellegrina (1589) which were performed at the Teatro della Pergola in Florence conducted by Andrew Lawrence-King. Among L’Homme Armé’s most successful productions are the Vespri della Beata Vergine by Claudio Monteverdi, also conducted by Andrew Lawrence-King, that have been performed in several of the main Italian Festivals.
In more recent years L’Homme Armé has produced and performed programmes that combine early music with contemporary music. Among these Laborintus II and Cries of London by Luciano Berio (combined with music by Janequin and Orazio Vecchi) in collaboration with the Ensemble Tempo Reale and several others, performing music by Dufay, Josquin, Palestrina, Janequin, Messiaen, Kurtag, Hersant, Lang, Sciarrino, Pezzati, Pärt, Nono, Cage.
L’Homme Armé concerts have been broadcasted by the Italian RAI Radio3 and the ensemble has recorded several CD’s of Renaissance music (Discography).