Musical Easter in Peralada with the restoration of an oratorio from 1717

BarcelonaA Baroque painting of the martyrdom of Saint Sebastian is the image for the fourth edition of the Easter Festival, organized by the Perelada Festival during Holy Week, this year from April 2nd to 5th. And Baroque is the music of the Venetian composer Antonio Caldara, who premiered his oratorio on Holy Thursday in 1717. Christ condemned in Vienna. 309 nine years later, and also on Holy Thursday, that same oratorio will be played in the Carmen church of Peralada, performed by Vísperas de Arnadí and the Francesc Valls Choir. "It's a world premiere, because Christ condemned "It has never been performed in modern times," says Dani Espasa, director of Vísperas de Arnadí, who has worked from the manuscript held in Vienna. "Caldara was choirmaster to Archduke Charles in Barcelona, ​​and between 1708 and 1710 he influenced the introduction of opera. Later, once settled in Vienna, he composed several oratorios like this one. We have a wonderful project on our hands," says Espasa, for whom "it is very exciting to bring to light this high-quality music by a composer who marked the musical life of Barcelona."

A Christ condemnedAn oratorio for five soloists and heart, the action is set during Jesus' trial before Pontius Pilate, and also incorporates the allegorical figures of the Holy Scriptures and the Anima Compunto. At the Church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, the soloists will be Ana Quintana, Maite Beaumont, Nicolas Brooymans, Montserrat Seró, and Josep-Ramon Olivé, and the Francesc Valls Choir will perform two roles: one more "energetic," that of the enraged mob demanding Barbas' release, and, in contrast, one with the high voices, as explained by Pere Lluís Biosca, the director of the Francesc Valls Choir.

"The program proposes a journey that rediscovers the essence of universal musical heritage, while reaffirming its commitment to contemporary creation, and invites us to reread, from the present, the ancient liturgies that have accompanied European spirituality throughout the centuries," says festival director Oriol Agui. "Music in the liturgies of our civilization." Christian liturgies, given the nature of the works to be performed. For example, the Lessons of darkness by François Couperin, composed in 1714, which William Christie will perform on Good Friday with Les Arts Florissants in a program completed with the Prelude to the Mass of the Assumption this and the Symphonies for a repository by Marc-Antoine Charpentier and Marin Pantano's Lament. That is, sacred works from the golden age of the French Baroque, conducted by William Christie, who will receive the festival's gold medal.

On Holy Saturday there will be two performances. On the one hand, the festival debut of Lionel Meunier and Vox Luminis, who will present a journey through the German Baroque entitled Ein deutsches Barockrequiem which "rediscovers composers contemporary to Bach" such as Johann Scharmann, Thomas Selle, Johann Hermann Schein, Christian Geist, Andreas Hammerschmidt, and Johann Förtsch. "It will be an important concert," Aguilà emphasizes. The other offering on Saturday features O Vos Omnes, under the direction of Xavier Pastrana, who will sing theOfficium defunctorium by Tomás Luis de Victoria, written in 1603 for the funeral of Empress Maria of Austria. "It is the last known work by Tomás Luis de Victoria, the last work of the Renaissance, or of a branch of the Renaissance, more austere than that of the Franco-Flemish school," explains Pastrana. "There is a perfect balance of forces. It signifies the end of a life, a body of work, and an era." One of the unique aspects of O Vos Omnes's production is that the singers will not occupy the altar but the center of the Carme church, "with low lighting and the audience surrounding them."

The festival will end on Sunday with a morning performance by the Franz Schubert Philharmonic, conducted by Guillermo García Calvo. The program includes the Short Mass in G major by Mozart and the Mass in G major by Schubert. "Two works by two child prodigies," says García Calvo. Mozart composed it at age 12, and Schubert at 18. The choral part will be performed by the Francesc Valls Choir, this year's resident ensemble, and four soloists who won the Peralada Prize at the Tenor Viñas Competition: Yewon Han, Filipe Manu, Manuel Fuentes, and Marcela Rahal.

The Easter Festival program is completed in the church cloister with the performance installation The light of the wolf does not weigh, a creation by Aurora Bauzà and Pere Jou with the light artist Jou Serra inspired by wordless fragments of Of lamentatione Ieremiæ Prophetæ by Alonso Lobo.