Ensemble Caprice

Ensemble Caprice maintains a longstanding foothold in Baroque performance circles across Canada and farther afield from its Montreal base. Its occasionally polarizing readings may have helped expand an already extensive discography.

Matthias Maute, a virtuoso on recorder who also plays flute and leads from the podium, established the ensemble in Germany during 1989. The core remains small—five musicians at present—with additional players engaged as each program demands. Early personnel came from Maute’s circle of German colleagues; once he relocated to Montreal for performances and teaching, fresh participants and collaborators emerged locally. Foremost among them was flutist and recorder specialist Sophie Larivière, who joined as both member and co-director in 1997. She and Maute are spouses. That same year the group issued its first recording, devoted to Corelli and Johann Kuhnau, on the Antes Edition/Zebralution imprint. Two years afterward it transferred to ATMA Classique for the release Sweet Follia and has since worked chiefly with that company and Analekta.

The ensemble has traveled extensively, reaching audiences throughout North America, Europe, and Asia as well as in Israel and multiple African nations. Festival appearances have included the early-music events in Bruges, Belgium; Regensburg, Germany; and Utrecht, Netherlands, while North American engagements have taken the players to New York’s Frick Collection, Washington’s Library of Congress, and the Boston Early Music Festival. Its principal Montreal venue is Bourgie Hall at the Museum of Fine Arts. Although the ensemble’s vigorous approach has drawn mixed critical response—one Montreal newspaper likened a performance to Baroque speed metal—live and recorded audiences have remained loyal. By 2021 the catalog exceeded fifteen releases, the most recent being a reading of Handel’s Messiah, HWV 56, led by Maute with the Ensemble Vocal Arts-Québec. Concerts planned for 2022 feature several programs of Bach cantatas and oratorios.