Masses

Masses

Michael Haydn, Missa tempore Quadragesimae (Lenten Mass, D minor, 1794) and Franz Schubert’s Deutsche Messe (German Mass, 1827).

Kuninkaantien Muusikot (Finland)
Ilpo Laspas, organ
Conductor: Andres Mustonen

Kuninkaantien Muusikot (Musicians of the King’s Road) is a distinguished Baroque orchestra and choir based in Turku, made up of professional musicians and specialising in rare works by European composers on historical instruments. Founded in 2008, it was the first Finnish early-music ensemble to bring orchestra and choir together from the start. Both have built intriguing concert series and introduced rare instruments and seldom-heard works. In the Reformation jubilee year of 2017, continuing a cycle begun in 2013, they performed the oldest completely surviving St Matthew Passions in the history of music, including the first performances in Finland of the passions by Antoine de Longueval, Jakob Meiland and Johann Walter.

Ilpo Laspas began piano studies at the age of nine, and harpsichord and organ in 1999. He gave his first organ and harpsichord recital in the crypt of Helsinki Cathedral in 2011, and completed a doctorate at the Sibelius Academy in 2016. He has attended numerous masterclasses in Finland and abroad, and also studied in Berlin during his doctoral work. He has been successful in competitions, including second prize and the audience prize at the International Johann Sebastian Bach Harpsichord Competition in Leipzig in 2006, and second prize in the organ category of the same competition in 2008. His recordings include organ music by Aimo Känkänen at the Church of the Holy Cross in Lahti, and Bach’s harpsichord music for the YLE archive. In 2021 he and the accordionist Markku Lepistö released their debut album European Soirée, with historical 19th-century accordion repertoire accompanied by piano and harpsichord.

Kuninkaantien muusikot, Franz Schubert_ Deutsche Messe, Tallinn – YouTube