About Us
Incantati was founded in 2021 by recorder player Emma Murphy with colleagues Rachel Stott and Asako Morikawa. The ensemble brings together together three instrumental timbres which were used in the baroque period to represent enchantment or otherworldliness, whether it be the touch of the supernatural, the moment of falling in love or the departure into the next world. The recorder's sweet tone was associated with pastoral and amorous scenes, while the viola d'amore's ethereal quality enhances moments of spirituality in both religious music and opera. In the Passions by J.S. Bach, the viola da gamba's delicate sound accompanies the departure of Christ from life on earth. These three sonorities come together in Incantati to create a uniquely charming sound, with each of the instruments clearly distinguishable, yet compementing each other.
Incantati now performs regularly with Petra Samhaber-Eckhardt and has also collaborated with singers Daniel Gilchrist and Elin Harries as well as instrumentalists Persephone Gibbs, Nikolaus Newerkla, Satoko Doi-Luck, Yu-Wei Hu and Johann Lofving.
Ibrahim Aziz came to Incantati after Asaka Morikawa, the group’s original gamba player, left for Japan. Originally from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Ibrahim is now settled in London and performs on viola da gamba and baroque cello with various period ensembles, such as Chelys, The Rose Consort of Viols and Linnet baroque, although he sometimes also works with modern orchestras and performs new music on his instruments.
He is in demand as a chamber musician and occasionally features as soloist; recent highlights include working with the RTE Symphony Orchestra in Dublin and the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra in Kuala Lumpur as soloist on viola da gamba.
Ibrahim trained at Trinity College of Music London under Alison Crum and Susan Sheppard and was a recipient of numerous awards and prizes.
He has recorded over 20 CDs with various ensembles and has two solo albums on First Hand Records.
For more information, please visit: www.ibiaziz.com
Petra Samhaber-Eckhardt was born in Linz, Austria. She studied modern violin at the university Mozarteum in Salzburg, but discovered very soon her love and passion for the baroque violin and early music.
After graduation in Salzburg, she moved to London for studies with Andrew Manze and Ingrid Seifert at the Royal College of Music. There she passed her postgraduate diploma with distinction and won several prizes at early music competitions.
In 2012 she took her Masters with distinction in Austria with Michi Gaigg and studied for several years with Enrico Onofri at the conservatory in Palermo, Italy.
Beside her passionate work directing and managing Ensemble Castor, she is also in great demand leading and playing in various orchestras and ensembles (Incantati, Innsbrucker Festwochen, Collegium Marianum, Il Pomo d'Oro). She has participated in major festivals throughout Europe, North and South America.
Rachel Stott is a viola player and composer. She played for some years with period instrument orchestras while also exploring new music with Music Projects of London, Ensemble Exposé and the New Music Players. She currently performs with chamber groups The Revolutionary Drawing Room, Incantati, Trio Notturno and Sopriola, and explores both contemporary and baroque repertoire for viola d'amore.
Rachel's compositions have been performed at the London South Bank, Wigmore Hall, St John's Smith Square, in UK festivals, and abroad in Europe, America and Japan. She has written string quartets for the Fitzwilliam, Dante, Callino and Revolutionary string quartets and a record-breaking work, Odysseus in Ogygia, for six violas d'amore. She has particular expertise in writing for period instruments, including viols, cornetts and sackbuts, baryton, lute and theorbo, several of which appear on her CD Odysseus and the Sorceress.
Rachel is the Director of Stoke Newington Early Music Festival.
J.S. BACH CD
Johann Sebastian BACH (1685–1750)
Two-Part Inventions (excs)
Sinfonias (Three-Part Inventions) (excs)
Wer nur den Lieben Gott lässt walten’ BWV691
Aria from Goldberg Variations, BWV988
Trio Sonata No.3 in D minor, BWV 527
Trio Sonata No.6 in G major, BWV 530: II. Lento
Trio super ‘Herr Jesu Christ dich zu uns wend’, BWV 655
Fuga super ‘Allein Gott in der Höh sei Ehr’, BWV 716
Incantati:
Emma Murphy recorders
Rachel Stott viola d’amore
Asako Morikawa viola da gamba
Released 11 March 2022
£12.00 + P&P
Available from First Hand Records
