Misteria Paschalia 2011: Reborn

Does the adjective “new” have any right to appear at an event devoted to early music? The organisers of the 8th Misteria Paschalia Festival (18-25 April) argue that this is the ideal place for it.

“Every festival, even this one, whose formula we have become attached to and taken a liking to, requires a facelift now and again. This allows us to avoid any routine elements” – announces Filip Berkowicz, artistic director of the undertaking. So from this year the prestigious festival will be comprised of three trends: alongside historical performance by world class masters (Mainstream) we can hear stars emerging onto this scene (Debuts) and representatives from the world of popular music tackling unfamiliar repertoire (Trance).

New Instalments

The leading role taken by early music and its marvellous performers and interpreters remains unchanged. For a second time Kraków is playing host to Christina Pluhar and the L’Arpeggiata ensemble (21 April, Kraków Philharmonic Hall), who are fascinated by Italian seicento music and the folk elements it contains. The lineup for the concert is completed by the countertenor Philippe Jaroussky and soprano Lucilla Galeazzi as well as the Corsican male voice quartet, Barbara Furtuna. In the Via Crucis programme, the artists bring into focus the traditional Passion-themed repertoire performed in 17th-century Italy – both works taken directly from folk culture and compositions by Monteverdi, Merula and Ferrari which were inspired by such works.

A sense of thematic continuity with last year’s festival is also maintained by concerts on both days of Easter featuring the latest instalments of projects split over several editions. On 24 April Marc Minkowski will be conducting a group of soloists and the Les Musiciens du Louvre-Grenoble as they perform Johann Sebastian Bach’s Mass in B minor. This is the second instalment of a three-year-long series of presentations of this Baroque master’s large-scale works. Minkowski’s interpretation is in fact in accordance with the proposals set down by Joshua Rifkin and Andrew Parrott, which state that, if Bach’s sacred vocal-instrumental music is supposed to sound as it did in the composer’s day, it must be performed with a simple doubling up of voices rather than a full-scale choir. So the vocal parts are to be performed by as few as ten singers, an approach which takes nothing away from the power of Bach’s work. In contrast, on Easter Monday the soprano Veronica Cangemi will be appearing with the Accademia Bizantina ensemble. And for the sixth time the festival is closed by the music of Antonio Vivaldi – this year we can hear arias from Ottone in villa or Griselda as well as concertos from the Red Priest’s most famous collections: L’estro armonico and Il cimiento dell’armonia e dell’inventione. Everything is conducted by Ottavio Dantone.

The programme also includes Misteria Paschalia regulars – Fabio Biondi and Jordi Savall. The first of these will be offering the Sant’ Elena al Calvario oratorio, which is based on an episode from the life of St Helen, mother of the Emperor Constantine; the work was written by the poet Pietro Metastasio and the Neapolitan composer Leonardo Leo. It will be performed by the Europa Galante ensemble, whose soloists include Gemma Bertagnolli in the title role and Vivica Genaux (19 April, Kraków Philharmonic Hall). In contrast, Savall, in his The Forgotten Kingdom – The Tragedy of the Cathars project, remembers the civilisation of Languedoc, a province in the south of France which was in the Middle Ages an active centre of culture, open to influences from all corners of the globe. It was home to the Cathars, representatives of a dualist religious movement whose views attracted accusations of heresy, and from 1208 – the attentions of the Inquisition. We’ll be setting off on a musical journey covering five centuries with Montserrat Figueras, singers from the Capella Reial de Catalunya and instrumentalists from the Hespèrion XXI ensemble (20 April, St Catherine’s Church).

New Guests

“We are trying to introduce new ensembles to Misteria Paschalia (…) which we haven’t hosted yet” – Filip Berkowicz told “Karnet” last year. On this occasion the role of festival debutants is to be played by artists from France. During the concert inaugurating this sixth edition, it is Le Concert d’Astrée who will be appearing, conducted by Emmanuelle Haïm. This artist began her career as a harpsichordist and went on to conduct ensembles led by William Christie and Christophe Rousset. Finally, as she herself says, she felt it was time for a bigger challenge and she founded her own ensemble exclusively concentrating on Baroque music. The performance by Le Concert d’Astrée will feature the so-called “Les Grands Motets” of Jean-Philippe Rameau and Jean-Joseph de Mondonville, a remnant of the musical culture of 18th-century France (18 April, Kraków Philharmonic Hall).

The founder of the Les Talens Lyriques ensemble, the aforementioned Christophe Rousset, claims that the past already interested him when he was a child: “I fantasised about becoming an archaeologist. I dreamed of beautiful castles – Baroque castles”. When he began playing the harpsichord, he felt that music represented a free passage into time and space travel. He chose the destination of his journey very precisely: “In the 18th century Neapolitan music was everywhere – in London, St Petersburg, everywhere. Naples was a creative hub”. It was the accomplishments of composers of this school which interest him the most, which is attested to, as it were, by the repertoire of the Kraków concert, for on Good Friday at the Philharmonic Hall we can hear Giovanni Battista Pergolesi’s religious drama San Guglielmo Duca d’Aquitania.

New Trends

“Misteria Paschalia, by creating the Debuts programme, is opening itself out to young ensembles – emerging stars in historical performance” – announces Filip Berkowicz. In accordance with this declaration the organisers have invited the La Morra ensemble, which is only just taking its first steps onto the scene. Yet their performances are already enjoying a great deal of recognition; enough to cite laconic review from “Goldberg Magazine”: “In a word – delightful”. This ensemble founded in 2000 in Basel by the Pole Michał Gondko and co-led by Corina Marti concentrate on repertoire from the late Middle Ages and early Renaissance. On Easter Saturday, during their concert at the Wieliczka Salt Mine, the ensemble will be presenting a programme consisting of works commissioned by and performed at Pope Leo X’s court. Apparently the music “brought out papal tears of devotion” – hence the programme’s title: Lacrime di Leo.

The second new element in the festival will be Trance, which, although it goes beyond the constraints of classical music, remains on the Passion theme. So a screening of a silent film from 1928, The Passion of Joan of Arc, accompanied by live music has been planned (23 April, Kraków Opera). The soundtrack creators are Adrian Utley from the group Portishead and Will Gregory from the Goldfrapp duo. Carl Theodore Dreyer’s film is regarded as a masterpiece. This was determined not only by its faithfulness to the facts (the screenplay was based on a mediaeval record of Joan of Arc’s court case), but also by the fact that the director was the first in the history of cinema to concentrate on the emotions portrayed on the faces of the actors. The film has already served as an inspiration for artists – a soundtrack for it has been created by Nick Cave, among others, while the premiere of Utley and Gregory’s musical setting took place almost a year ago – in May 2010. When creating the soundtrack, the musicians relied on the sound of guitars supplemented by percussion, French horns, keyboards and a choir (in Kraków this will be composed of singers from Capella Cracoviensis and the Octava Ensemble). The whole ensemble will be conducted by Charles Hazlewood. 

Although much more could be said about the programme and performers of the 8th Misteria Paschalia Festival, the best thing would be for us to just – go and listen! (bs)

www.misteriapaschalia.com


Detailed programme:

18 April 2011, 8pm, Mainstream
Karol Szymanowski Philharmonic Hall in Krakow

Jean-Philippe Rameau, Jean-Joseph de Mondonville – Les Grands Motets

Le Concert d’Astrée
Emmanuelle Haïm – conductor

19 April 2011, 8pm, Mainstream
Karol Szymanowski Philharmonic Hall in Krakow

Leonardo Leo – Sant’ Elena al Calvario

S. Elena: Gemma Bertagnolli – soprano
S. Macario: Vivica Genaux – soprano
Eustazio: Anna Chierichetti – soprano
Draciliano: Roberto Abbondanza – bass
Eudossa: Helena Rasker – contralto

Europa Galante
Fabio Biondi – conductor

20 April 2011, 8pm, Mainstream
St. Catherine‘s Church

La Tragédie Cathare

Hespèrion XXI
La Capella Reial de Catalunya
Jordi Savall – conductor

21 April 2011, 8pm, Mainstream
Karol Szymanowski Philharmonic Hall in Krakow

Via Crucis

Philippe Jaroussky – countertenor
Lucilla Galeazzi – soprano

Barbara Furtuna
L’Arpeggiata
Christina Pluhar – conductor

22 April 2011, 8pm, Mainstream
Karol Szymanowski Philharmonic Hall in Krakow

Giovanni Battista Pergolesi – San Guglielmo d’Aquitania

San Guglielmo & Alberto: Raffaella Milanesi – soprano
Cuòsemo: Maurizio Lo Piccolo – bass
Angelo da Pagio: Paolo Lopez – soprano
San Bernardo & Padre Arsenio: Anne-Lise Sollied – soprano
Demonio: Lisandro Abbadie – bass

Les Talens Lyriques
Christophe Rousset – conductor

23 April 2011
St Kinga’s Chapel, Wieliczka Salt Mine, 5pm, Debuts

Lacrime di Leo
La Morra
Corina Marti, Michał Gondko – Artistic Director

Kraków Opera, 8:30pm, Trance

The Passion of Joan of Arc
Adrian Utley (Portishead) & Will Gregory (Goldfrapp)
Octava Ensemble
Capella Cracoviensis
Charles Hazlewood – conductor

24 April 2011, 8pm, Mainstream
Karol Szymanowski Philharmonic Hall in Krakow

Johann Sebastian Bach – Mass in B minor

Les Musiciens du Louvre-Grenoble
Marc Minkowski – conductor

25 April 2011, 8pm, Mainstream
Karol Szymanowski Philharmonic Hall in Krakow, 8pm

Antonio Vivaldi – Arie e concerti III

Veronica Cangemi – soprano
Accademia Bizantina
Ottavio Dantone – conductor