A prestigious formation dedicated to baroque music, a countertenor with a fantastic voice and a specially elegant and emotive soprano perform arias and duets by Händel; a musical embrace in the form of a concert.
Although he was born in Germany, Georg Friedrich Händel (1685-1759) became a British citizen and one of the greatest British composers of all time, especially of the baroque period. His life and works tell us of the musical relationship established between Italy and Great Britain at the start of the 18th century. The music that came out of Italy had a considerable impact on and was greatly appreciated in the British Isles of that period.
This concert is made up of arias, recitatives and duets by Händel, including a performance of the Concerto grosso HWV 318 in C major , or “Alexander’s Feast”, also by Händel, a notable example of contained virtuosity , as well as a selection of operatic arias that include fragments from Flavio, Rodelinda, Rinaldo, Agrippina and the well-known Giulio Cesare in Egitto, from which the popular aria “Piangerò la sorte mia” is taken.
This celebration of baroque music is offered by an extremely prestigious formation, Vespres d’Arnadí, which was formed in 2005 by Dani Espasa in order to perform baroque music with as much freshness as possible while using historical instruments and criteria. Vocals are by the Catalan countertenor Xavier Sabata, who also trained as an actor at the Institut del Teatre. He is a renowned international singer, with an extensive repertoire that ranges from baroque to contemporary music. Núria Rial is a soprano and a central figure in baroque and classical repertoires, with a career that has taken her to the great theatres of Europe. She has an incredibly elegant voice and is the creator of extremely emotive performances. She is not afraid to combine classical sounds with incursions into the world of jazz and modern music.
A Vallès Symphony Orchestra and Orfeó Català Foundation-Palau de la Música production.
Music programme:
Overture fromTolomeo, re d’Egitto
“Ricordati, mio ben”, a duet from Flavio
“Va tacito e nascosto”, from Giulio Cesare in Egitto
“Piangerò la sorte mia”, from Giulio Cesare in Egitto
Allegro-Largo-Allegro, Concerto Grosso HWV 318 in C major “Alexander’s Feast”
“Tu del ciel ministro eletto”, from Il trionfo del tempo e del disinganno
“Vivi, tiranno”, from Rodelinda
“Ballo”, from Agrippina
Matelot-Menuet-Bourrée I & II, from Agrippina
“Otton, Otton...Voi che udite il mio lamento”, from Agrippina
“Scherza in mar la navicella”, from Lotario
“Io t’abraccio”, duet from Rodelinda
Music performed by: Núria Rial (soprano), Xavier Sabata (countertenor) Vespres d’Arnadí Lina Tur Bonet, Elisabeth Bataller, Ricart Renart, Oriol Algueró, Pavel Amilcar (violins I) Adriana Alcaide, Cecilia Clares, Josep Martínez Reinoso, Ángela Moro, Fèlix Ferrer (violins II) Núria Pujolràs, Elizabeth Gex, Jordi Armengol (violas) Oriol Aymat, Oleguer Aymamí, Urko Larrañaga (violoncellos) Mario Lisarde (double bass) Pere Saragossa, Ivan Alcazo (oboes) Carles Vallès (bassoon) Pierre-Antoine Tremblay, Pepe Reche (horns) Josep Maria Martí (archlute and baroque guitar) Dani Espasa (harpsichord and conductor)
