Johann Adolf Hasse revives thanks to Arnadí's Vespers
The oratorio by the German Baroque composer opens the third edition of the Peralada Easter Festival.
PeraladaThe Vísperas de Arnadí ensemble has recovered Johann Adolf Hasse's oratorio from oblivion. Sanctus Petrus et Sancta María Magdalena,and with it has inaugurated the third edition of the Peralada Easter Festival, in clear harmony with one of the axes of the event, the recovery of musical heritage. The work, composed for string orchestra, continuo and second voices and premiered in 1758 in Venice, had not yet been heard live in Spain.
In a packed church of El Carmen, Dani Espasa unraveled one of the Baroque composer's most captivating pieces, written as an extended introduction to a moving Miserere in D minor A finale in which music and drama merge in a dialogue between Saint Peter, Mary Magdalene, and three minor characters from the Gospels—Mary Salome, Mary the mother of Jacob, and Joseph of Arimathea—in which they express their suffering for Christ's death.
Towards a surprising ending
Dani Espasa, from the keyboard, conveyed the passion and dramatic precision of the work, entrusting his fifteen musicians with their composure and leading them along the best paths, both in the accelerated rhythms and in the more paused and emotional ones, and the musicians responded with millimetric precision, creating sounds of great breath.
Vocally, the result was not so compact. The soprano Marie Lys (Maria Magdalena) stood out for her quality and musicality, with a full voice rich in nuances, with precise high notes and a masterfully applied technique, especially in the aria Always faithful, my pupil; and also the sopranist Rafael Quirant (Josep), who excelled in O portenta aeternia moris for the purity of her crystalline voice, well projected, with striking high notes and confident interpretation.
Maria Espada (Maria Jacobí) demonstrated good coloratura and emission and Anna Alàs (Maria Salomé) stood out once again for her wide range, with a Yes, beloved God with deep bass notes and great musicality.
On the other hand, the countertenor Valer Sabadus (Saint Peter) was uneven, with a voice with little timbre at the beginning, difficulties in emission in the low notes and a constant reading of the score that took away from his spontaneity. Despite gradually gaining tone throughout the evening, the most famous aria of the oratorio, Mea Storm Properate, a real gem, failed to ignite the expected fireworks.
The Miserere The finale was surprising. The highly polished, pitched voices of the Friends of the Union Children's Choir, whether solo or with the five soloists, sounded pure and luminous in a stellar finale.