The festival opened on the 2nd of April with Fenice sul rogo, attributed to Giovanni Battista Pergolesi, performed by Europa Galante conducted by Fabio Biondi, followed by works by Vivaldi and Scarlati, performed by Accademia Bizantina and La Venexiana, respectively.
Other international groups performing at Misteria Paschalia include Hesperion XXI, La Capella Reial de Catalunya, Les Musiciens du Louvre Gronoble and Ensemble Matheus. Budding vocalist Agnieszka Budzińska - Benett (vocals, harf, artistic direction) leads the Ensemble Peregrina in a performance entitled Crux.
Filip Berkowicz, director of the Misteria Paschalia festival calls it a "festival of voices". Featured soloists include Vivica Genaux, Simone Kermes, Julia Lezhneva, Roberta Mameli, Magnus Staveland and Nathalie Stutzmann.
On Good Friday Marc Minkowski conducts Les Musiciens du Louvre Grenoble performing Johann Sebastian Bach's Matthäus-Passion BWV 244
On Easter Monday the Ensemble Matheus performs Antonio Vivaldi's Arie e concerti IV wth Julia Lezhneva (soprano), Alexis Kossenko (flute), Jean-Marc Goujon (flute), Jean-Christophe Spinosi (conductor) at the Karol Szymanowski Philharmonic.
Most concerts take place at the Karol Szymanowski Philharmonic, with several concerts taking place in Kraków's churches.
For the full programme, see: www.misteriapaschalia.com
Editor: Agnieszka Le Nart
Source: Misteria Paschalia