Jordi Savall, photo: Anna Kaczmarz, source: www.misteriapaschalia.pl
Misteria Paschalia is one of the most important festivals of old music in Europe, presenting musical works pertaining to the Holy Week and Easter time. This year as in the previous editions,
Misteria Paschalia will host the most accomplished ensembles specializing in historical performances, including Il Giardino Armonico, La Venexiana, Accademia Bizantina, Europa Galante, Cappella della Pietà de' Turchini, Les Musiciens du Louvre-Grenoble. The invited conductors include
Marc Minkowski, Fabio Biondi, Giovanni Antonini and Christina Pluhar
In recent years, Misteria Paschalia has become also a stage for presenting the most beautiful voices like these of Vivica Genaux, Philippe Jaroussky, Maria Grazia Schiavo, Romina Basso, Pino de Vittorio, Montserrat Figuerras, Gerd Türk, Roberta Invernizzi and Marina de Liso.
Lord's passion is the main theme of the Festival. The inaugural concert will take place on March 29 at Kraków's St. Catherine's Church. Capella della Pieta de Turchini under Antonio Florio will show their project "Intorno Allo Stabat". The concert will feature the premiere performances of the splendid works typical of Neapolitan Baroque, focusing around Passion and Ressurection.
Lord's Passion is at the dramatic core of Antonio Caldara's Maddalena ai piedi di Cristo, a composition rooted in the Venetian tradition of presenting Magdalena lamenting over Christ. The piece will be performed on March 30 by Accademia Bizantina.
A special event of last year's Misteria Paschalia was the project Jerusalem prepared by Jordi Savall – a huge musical fresco showing the musical history of the Holy City, in which the famous Catalonian music archaelogist recreated the sound of the trumpets of Jericho from the old treaties. This time, Savall shall present his other historical ventures in which he paid homage to the unbelievable and impressive journey of the 16th century monk Francis Xavier. A concert with the participation of Montserrat Figueras, soloists from La Capella Reial de Catalunya, member of Hespèrion XXI and Japanese musicians: Hiroyuki Koinumy, Yukio Tanaki, Ichiro Seki and Masako Hirao, playing such exotic instruments as shinobue, nokan, chant, biwa or shakuhachi shall take place on Easter Saturday in the original scenery of the gothic St Catherine's Church. Prabhu Edouard and Ken Zuckerman shall take part in the oriental musical journey, playing Hindu percussion and string instruments – tablas, as well as dhotar and sarod respectively.
On Easter Thursday, one of the most valued vocal groups in the world today, established by the alto singer - Claudia Cavina shall appear in the Basilica of the Order of Franciscans in Krakow with a cycle of seven cantatas: Membra Jesu Nostri by a master from Lubeck, teacher of Jan Sebastian Bach – Dietrich Buxtehude. Composed of seven cantatas, the masterpiece uniquely describes the Passion through a contemplation of wounds given to the Saviour from head to toe. An unusually difficult, but also beautiful musical cycle could not have found better interpreters than La Venexiana, famous for its unique power of expression, equalling the best opera performances.
Other highlights of the Festival will include a performance of Johann Sebastian Bach's St. John's Passion. The concert will constitute the first part of Marc Minkowski's Bach project undertaken together with Les Musiciens du Louvre and scheduled for three years. Next year, the musicians will perform Mass in H Minor, a year later - St. Matthew's Passion.
The central event of the Festival will be, however, the long-awaited oratorio by George Frederic Handel La Resurezzione interpreted by Il Giardino Armonico under Giovanni Antonini.
For the first time in the history of the Festival, the organisers decided to issue a series of CD albums signed with the label Misteria Paschalia. Two unique propositions performed by ensemble Europa Galante will hit the market during the Festival. Both CDs feature music conducted by a fantastic violinist, conductor, and discoverer of the lost works of Baroque – Fabio Biondi (CD 1 - Gian Francesco de Majo, Gesù sotto il peso della croce, CD 2 - Alessandro Scarlatti, La Santissima Annunziata).
Five concerts in the 7th edition of Misteria Paschalia, including the inaugural concert on March 29, will be aired on Polish Radio Program 2.
PROGRAM
Monday, March 29, St. Catherine's Church, at 8:00 PM
Intorno Allo Stabat
Maria Grazia Schiavo - soprano
Romina Basso - alto
Patrizia Bovi - soprano
Pino de Vittorio - tenor
Cappella della Pietà de' Turchini
Antonio Florio - conductor
Thursday, March 30,
Karol Szymanowski Philharmonic in Kraków, at 8:00 PM
Antonio Caldara - Maddalena ai piedi di Cristo
Claire Booth - soprano
Catherine Wyn-Rogers - mezzo-soprano
David Alegret - tenor
Ina Kancheva - soprano
Jordi Domenach - countertenor
Miguel Sola - baritone
Accademia Bizantina
Stefano Montanari - conductor
Wednesday, March 31, St. Catherine's Church, at 8:00 PM
La Ruta de Oriente
Montserrat Figueras - soprano
Adriana Fernández - soprano
Pascal Bertin - countertenor
David Sagastume - countertenor
Lluís Vilamajó - tenor
Francesc Garrigosa - tenor
Furio Zanasi - baritone
Daniele Carnovich - bass
Jordi Savall - conductor
La Capella Reial de Catalunya
Hespèrion XXI
Hiroyuki Koinuma - shinobue et nokan
Yukio Tanaka - chant et biwa
Ichiro Seki - shakuhachi
Masako Hirao - viola da gamba basse
Prabhu Edouard - tablas
Ken Zuckerman - dhotar et sarod
Thursday, April 1, Franciscan Basilica in Kraków, at 8:00 PM
Dietrich Buxtehude - Membra Jesu Nostri
La Venexiana
Claudio Cavina - conductor
Friday, April 2,
Karol Szymanowski Philharmonic in Kraków, at 8:00 PM
Johann Sebastian Bach - Johannes-Passion
Joanna Lunn - soprano
Judith Gauthier – soprano
Delphine Galou - mezzo-soprano
Owen Willetts - countertenor
Markus Brutscher - tenor (Evangelist)
Nicholas Mulroy - tenor
Christian Immler - bass
Benoît Arnoult - bass
Les Musiciens du Louvre-Grenoble
Marc Minkowski - conductor
Saturday, April 3, St. Kinga's Chapel, Salt Mine in Wieliczka, at 8:00 PM
Audi Coelum / Teatro d'Amore
Philippe Jaroussky - countertenor
L'Arpeggiata
Christina Pluhar - teorban, Baroque harp, musical director
Sunday, April 4, Karol Szymanowski Philharmonic in Kraków, at 8:00 PM
George Frideric Handel - La Resurrezione
Maria Espada - soprano
Roberta Invernizzi - soprano
Marina De Liso - alto
Jeremy Ovenden - tenor
Luca Pisaroni - bass
Il Giardino Armonico
Giovanni Antonini - conductor
Monday, April 5, Karol Szymanowski Philharmonic in Kraków, at 8:00 PM
Antonio Vivaldi - Arie e concerti II
Vivica Genaux - mezzo-soprano
Europa Galante
Fabio Biondi - conductor
Source:
www.misteriapaschalia.pl.