The OSG closed the 2011 Mozart Festival with Mendelssohn’s Paulus oratorio
The concert took place on Saturday, June 25 at the Palacio de la Ópera de A Coruña. The oratorio was performed under the baton of the Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia’s Resident Conductor, Víctor Pablo Pérez, with the participation of soprano Letizia Scherrer, mezzo-soprano Anna Alàs, tenor Rufus Müller and bass José Antonio López, together with the Palau de la Música Catalana’prestigious Chamber Choir (conducted by Jordi Casas-Bayer) and the Sinfónica de Galicia’s Children’s Choir (José Luis Vázquez, conductor).
You can see pictures of some of this Festival season’s most outstanding performances at the Mozart Festival’s Flickr site and revisit performances on its YouTube channel.
New videos:
| La clemenza di Tito | OSG Jazz Band | |
| - Video 1
- Video 2 (fragmento) |
- Video 1 |
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© Photos: Miguel A. Fernández
The ‘Paulus’ Oratorio by Felix Mendelssohn Closes this Year’s Mozart Festival Program
© Josep Molina
In his article on Paulus, Op. 36 (included in the 2011 Mozart Festival Official Catalogue) musicologist and critic Jorge de Persia notes that this oratorio ‘touches on elements that can be linked, both metaphorically and otherwise, to Felix Mendelssohn’s life.’ He goes on to say that the story of ‘Paulus,’ based on Saul of Tarsus’ conversion to Christianity, as he becomes Paul the Apostle, not only makes reference to many of the composer’s personal concerns—apart from the strictly religious story—but also establishes links with our times.’
Paulus, Op. 36, Mendelssohn’s first oratorio, will be offered in a single performance as a part of the Mozart Festival program on Saturday, June 25 at 9 p.m. at the Palacio de la Ópera, under the baton of Víctor Pablo Pérez. According to our interview with the conductor earlier in the 2011 Mozart Festival season, the Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia is in a prime moment of maturity to perform this work.
This oratorio will feature soloists Letizia Scherrer (soprano) and Anna Alàs (mezzo-soprano), as well as tenor Rufus Müller and bass José Antonio López. The soloists will be accompanied by the Palau de la Música Catalana Chamber Choir, conducted by Jordi Casas-Bayer, with the participation of the Sinfónica de Galicia Children’s Choir, conducted by José Luis Vázquez.
New Videos on the Mozart Festival YouTube Channel
© Miguel Á. Fernández
You can find videos on the Mozart Festival Youtube channel of the semi-staged performance of Mozart’s ‘The Clemency of Titus,’ stage directed by Marco Carnita and conducted by Fabio Biondi and featuring the Real Filharmonía de Galicia and solosits Lucia Cirillo and Véronique Gens. You can also find videos of the OSG Women’s Orchestra concert in Betanzos, conducted by Lucica Trita and, soon to be posted, videos of the OSG Jazz Band under the musical direction of bass player Risto Vuolanne.
Recommended videos:
La clemenza di Tito
- Come ti piace imponi
- Se’all impero, amici
- Ah grazie si rendano
- Non più di fiori vaghe catene Che del ciel, che degli Dei
Orquesta de Mulleres da OSG
- Rondo para violín de la Serenata nº 7, K 250
- Octeto op. 20
- Sonata para cuerdas nº 1, en sol mayor I Moderato
This Week’s Events
The Festival Mozart A Coruña 2011 draws to an end with two events scheduled for this week. The first of these, the Paulus theme dinner, will take place at the Alborada restaurant on Friday, June 24 at 9:30 p.m. and will be attended by maestro Víctor Pablo Pérez and the main soloists featered in this grand Romantic oratorio. Sign up for this dinner, the last in the “Music Meets Cuisine” series, directly with the restaurant.
And the Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia, under the baton of Víctor Pablo and with the participation of the Palau de la Música Chamber Choir and the OSC Chidren’s Choir, will bring the 2011 Mozart Festival to a close with its performance of Felix Mendelssohn’s romantic oratorio, Paulus. The concert will take place on Saturday, June 25 at 9 p.m. at the Palacio de la Ópera de A Coruña. Soprano Letizia Scherrer, mezzo- soprano Anna Alàs, tenor Rufus Müller and bass José Antonio López will sing the roles of the different Biblical characters in this story of Saint Paul’s conversion to Christianity.
Fabio Biondi: ‘From a dramaturgical point of view, “The Clemency of Titus” is superior to “The Magic Flute”’
© Ana de Labra
Spotlight on ‘La clemenza di Tito’ (The Clemency of Titus)
This conductor and violinist from Palermo will conduct the largest operatic event at this year’s Mozart Festival. The partially-staged version of ‘The Clemency of Titus’ will be performed on Saturday, June 18 at the Palacio de la Ópera. Fabio Biondi talks to us about this Mozart score and the event scheduled to take place in A Coruña, with the Real Filharmonía de Galicia.
You participated in the 2000 Mozart Festival, offering two concerts as conductor and soloist. Now, ten years later, you are back in A Coruña with an important operatic work. What are some of the features that define The Clemency of Titus score?
This is an extremely mature opera that Mozart composed in a very inspired and― contrary to the opinions of some―energetic period of his life. From a dramaturgical point of view, it is an even more solid work than The Magic Flute which, though clearly beautiful, was a commissioned piece. Mozart paid special attention to the Clemency score which, at the end of the first act, includes what I consider to be the true requiem. It is not surprising that in the years following Mozart’s death, it was his most-frequently performed work.
You will be conducting the Real Filharmonía de Santiago. Have you worked with this orchestra in the past?
No, this will be the first time that we work together.
Your Clemency will be the only partially-staged opera at this year’s Festival. Do you think that this particular format is a good option in these economically challenging times?
It all depends on the power and intensity of the performance being offered. In that regard, I don’t think that the format is of primary importance. What makes a production truly great, be it a staged production, a concert or chamber music, is the quality of the performance. That is the only parameter to consider.
I don’t think that there is any handicap associated with doing a partially-staged production. However, since there are fewer elements in play, the stage director must be able to clearly convey the work’s dramaturgical contents. It is an added challenge for him, in this case.
Briefly, what would you emphasize about the main roles performed by Lucia Cirillo and Véronique Gens?
Apart from the fact that overall, this is a serious opera, both of these roles are profoundly human. There is no artificial make-believe about them. Both characters express real human feelings, different male and female emotions.
You are currently very busy with your own projects and also with leading the prestigious Europa Galante. Can you fill us in on some of your current projects?
We have lots of ongoing projects with Europa Galante, both instrumental and vocal. Right now we’re preparing a Vivaldi opera, L’oracolo in Messenia and a Veracini opera, L’ Adriano in Siria, in addition to a series of concerts focused around Geminiani’s La foresta incantata which involves a combination of music and audiovisual elements.
Given your experience with Baroque music, do you feel that this genre is enjoying a resurgence in terms of the number and quality of groups that are reviving and performing Baroque works?
It is clearly a repertoire that has gained popularity in general, but also among younger people, which is particularly gratifying to see.
Marta Mathéu / Pilar Vázquez / Maurizio Muraro / Véronique Gens / Lucia Cirillo / Shawn Mathey
The OSG Women’s Orchestra and the OSG Jazz Band Performing in A Coruña
© Miguel Á. Fernández
This week the Teatro Colón is presenting concerts performed by two new groups created within the framework of the 2011 Mozart Festival and formed by Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia musicians.
The OSG Women’s Orchestra, under the baton of its conductor and soloist, Lucica Trita, will present works by Corelli, Mozart, Rossini and Mendelssohn on June 14 at 9 p.m.
The OSG Jazz Band under the musical direction of bass player Risto Vuolanne will perform in A Coruña following their first concert of the Festival offered last Sunday in As Pontes. This event will take place on Friday, June 17 at 9 p.m. at the Teatro Colón Caixa Galicia. The OSG Jazz Band repertoire includes various jazz standards such as ‘Perdido’ and ‘Don’t Get Around Much Anymore,’ among others.
Recomended video:
- OSG Jazz Band
Forthcoming Mozart Festival Events (A Coruña and Vimianzo)
Following are the Mozart Festival events on this week’s schedule.
Tuesday, June 14 at 9 p.m. at the Teatro Colón: OSG Women’s Orchestra
Friday, June 17 at 9 p.m. at the Teatro Colón: OSG Jazz Band
Friday, June 17 at 9:30 p.m., ‘The Clemency of Titus’ theme dinner at the Alborada restaurant, attended by the opera’s conductor, Fabio Biondi, and the main participating soloists.
Saturday, June 18 at 8 p.m. at the Palacio de la Ópera de A Coruña,‘The Clemency of Titus’ by W. A. Mozart. With the Real Filharmonía de Galicia
Sunday, June 19 at 8 p.m. at the Casa de Cultura in Vimianzo: a concert by the OSG Jazz Band
You can follow the Festival’s daily events through all of its online platforms.
The ‘Festival at the Academy’ and ‘Festival by the Sea’ Series will Present their Final Concerts this Week.
Quinteto de Solitas de la OSG en una actuación del Festival Mozart 2010 – © Miguel Á. Fernández
After two weeks of intense musical activity at the Palacio de la Ópera, the Festival Mozart A Coruña has two chamber music events planned for this week at the Real Academia de Belas Artes and the Casa de los Peces. These concerts will close the 2011 “Festival at the Academy” and “Festival by the Sea” series.
The first of these concerts will feature the Quintet formed by Casey Hill (oboe), Iván Marín (clarinet), Steve Harriswangler (bassoon), Miguel Ángel Garza (horn) Alicia González Permuy (piano). This group will perform a program of “Quintets in E Flat” on Thursday, June 9 at 8:30 p.m. at the Real Academia Galega de Belas Artes.
The following day the OSG Solist Quintet formed by Claudia Walker (flute), Casey Hill (oboe), Juan Antonio Ferrer (clarinet), Steve Harriswangler (bassoon) and David Bushnell (horn) will close the “Festival by the Sea” series with a concert titled ‘Danzi: Shades of Mozart and Beethoven’, that will include performances of the following works by composer Franz Danzi: Quintet No.2 in E minor, Op. 67; No. 3 in E-flat major, Op. 67; No. 1 in A major, Op. 68 and No. 3 in D minor, Op. 68.
As with other previous performances at the Finisterrae Aquarium, following the concert (and included in the €5 ticket price) a guided tour will be offered of various areas of the Casa de los Peces.
Tickets are still available for both concerts (limited advance ticket sales; and same-day ticket sales one hour before the performance at the Real Academia and the Aquarium, respectively).
The Corella Ballet Cyl’s Performance of “Swan Lake” Acclaimed by Audiences and Critics Alike
© Miguel Á. Fernández
The Festival Mozart A Coruña included a classical ballet in its programming for the first time, winning over both audiences and critics.
The young ballet company lead by Ángel Corella offered two very successful performances of ‘Swan Lake’ this past weekend at the Palacio de la Ópera, revisiting the classical ballet choreographed by Petipa and Ivanov. The Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia, under the baton of Ukranian conductor Alexei Bailan, received a resounding ovation for their first-rate contribution to the events’ success.
Previous to these performances, dancer and choreographer Ángel Corella offered a master class at the Centro Coreográfico Galego where he reviewed basic features of the main schools of dance, as a guideline for the young people participating in the class, some of whom are professional dancers. The enthusiastic response to all of these activities (which began several months ago with a master class offered by Corella at the Dance Conservatory of A Coruña) reflects both the audience interest in this discipline and the quality of the dancers involved in the event including Carla López, a native of A Coruña and member of the Corella Ballet Castilla y León, who performed one of the leading roles in this version of ‘Swan Lake’.
New ‘Festival Express’ Events: Concerts in Carballo, Ferrol and As Pontes
OSG Jazz Band – © Miguel Á. Fernández
The ‘Festival Express’ series is gearing up again following a quiet period, with three new concerts programmed during the course of this week.
The first of those will take place on Friday, June 10 at 9 p.m. in Carballo (Pazo da Cultura) featuring the 20th Century Instrumental Group, with the ‘Private Concert Society’ program they presented on May 22 at the Teatro Colón Caixa Galicia. This group will offer the same concert again on Saturday, June 11 at 8:30 p.m. at the Teatro Jofre in Ferrol.
On Sunday, June 12 at 7:30 in As Pontes (Auditorio Cine Alovi), the OSG Jazz Band (Risto Vuolanne, musical director) will offer a program that revisits various classical jazz standards drawn from the traditional jazz repertoire.
Click here to see videos of the 20th Century Instrumental Group.