Suzana is a founding member of the Ensemble La Falsirena, a chamber group of young professional musicians who have met on the London Baroque platform. The ensemble works in the formation soprano-harpsichord-baroque ’cello, which allows for exploration of the endless repertoire of baroque chamber works for soprano. In this formation, Suzana has worked with some of the outstanding players from the London Baroque platform, the harpsichordist Luke Green, the ’cellist Henrik Persson, and the harpsichordist Joseph McHardy.

In 2007, the group is touring several European venues with a programme of continuo cantatas by George Frederic Handel, summarised in the title of one of the arias: Lontano al mio tesoro – Far away from my beloved. The programme presents a selection of Handel’s Arcadian cantatas written for Rome and Naples in 1707-08, interspersed with his harpsichord suites. These youthful vocal works are not widely performed today since they are overshadowed by the great oratorios and operas. However, they are the ones that show us the young composer at his most intimate: absorbing the Italian form and mastering the craft which would ultimately make him one of the most famous composers of the Italian opera of his time. It is no coincidence that Handel kept returning to these early pieces in search for inspiration throughout his later career, up until his final oratorios. The group’s 2007 tour includes the Handel House in London and the acclaimed Brežice Festival in Slovenia. Click here for sound clips.

MEMBER’S BIOGRAPHIES

Luke Green (harpsichord and direction) was born in Sydney. He studied at the Royal Academy of Music with the late John Toll, Laurence Cummings and Virginia Black. He has toured Japan with The Sixteen, worked for Grange Park Opera, the Israel Philharmonic, Utrecht and Salzburg Festivals, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, The Academy of Ancient Music, and the Northern Sinfonia. Luke’s operatic work has included Handel’s Rinaldo and Orlando; Cavalli’s La Callisto for the Bavarian State Opera and Glück’s Alceste for the Salzburg Festival, both under the baton of Ivor Bolton. He made his first forays in direction in this country while a student at the Academy (Purcell’s Indian Queen) and has since directed for Opera restor’d in works by Haydn, Boyce, Lampe and Purcell. He directed a concert performance of Handel’s Il pastor fido in 2004, and has recently directed the Bavarian State Opera’s Young Singers’ Academie in passiontide works by Bach.

Henrik Persson (’cello) was born in Stockholm. He developed an interest in period instrument performance while at the Birmingham Conservatoire. This led to a postgraduate degree at the Royal Academy of Music from which he graduated in 2002. During his time at the Academy, he studied baroque and classical cello with Jennifer Ward-Clarke and viola da gamba with Richard Campbell. Henrik works with leading period instrument orchestras such as The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, The Gabrieli Consort, The Academy of Ancient Music, The New Dutch Academy (the Netherlands) and L’Orfeo Barock Orkester (Austria). He was a member of the European Union Baroque Orchestra 2002-03 and is also in constant demand as a chamber musician, having performed with the Chamber Soloists of the Irish Baroque Orchestra, Ensemble Shudi, The Musical and Amicable Society and Musica Viva.