Christina Pluhar
Intricate plucked strings and soaring vocals that bridge the gap between 17th-century courts and modern jazz clubs. Elegant, rhythmic, and deeply alive.
Intricate plucked strings and soaring vocals that bridge the gap between 17th-century courts and modern jazz clubs. Elegant, rhythmic, and deeply alive.
Christina Pluhar creates music that feels like a bridge across centuries. While her foundation is strictly rooted in the Baroque and Medieval periods, her arrangements breathe with a rhythmic vitality that feels startlingly contemporary. It is music of high craftsmanship - the delicate interplay of the theorbo, harp, and Baroque guitar - but it never feels stuffy or academic. Instead, it possesses a dance-like quality, often incorporating Mediterranean folk influences and jazz-adjacent improvisation.
What makes her work truly distinctive is her ensemble, L'Arpeggiata, and their willingness to treat historical scores as living documents. You will hear the precise, crystalline beauty of a soprano voice one moment, followed by a syncopated percussion break that feels more like a jam session than a recital. The textures are warm and organic, favoring the woody resonance of gut strings and the natural reverb of stone chambers.
Begin with 'Alla Napoletana' to hear her vibrant take on Italian traditions, or 'Passacalle de la Follie' for a masterclass in how a simple repeating bass line can become a vehicle for breathtaking instrumental virtuosity. It is the perfect soundtrack for moments that require both intellectual stimulation and a sense of graceful, unhurried beauty.
Christina Pluhar (born 1965, Graz, Austria) is a theorbist, harpist, conductor, and the founder of the early music ensemble L'Arpeggiata. She discovered her passion for early music while studying at the University of Graz and went on to specialize in the lute, theorbo, and Baroque guitar. She studied at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague and the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis. In 1992, as a member of Ensemble La Fenice, Pluhar won first prize at the Festival of Early Music in Malmö. Since then, she has been based in Paris, performing both as a soloist and as a basso continuo player in the Baroque music scene. In 2000, she set up L'Arpeggiata.
Cassette uses generative AI to enrich its catalog. How we use AI →
