Time for reflection and rest. Holy Week is still experienced as a moment of calm that, amidst the routine, invites reflection and introspection. Taking advantage of this aura of mysticism and spirituality typical of Easter, the Perelada Festival decided, in the style of other local and European cycles, to reinforce its usual summer program with a proposal of sacred classical music designed to enjoy Holy Week. A program that this year, with its third edition, not only consolidates but even expands, offering six concerts between Thursday, April 17, and Sunday, April 20.
In the intimacy offered by the Gothic church of Carme del Castell de Perelada, the Perelada Easter Festival aims to become a lyrical and spiritual refuge for music lovers and fans looking to enjoy sacred classical music. Oriol Aguilà, artistic director of the festival, summarizes the spirit of the concert series by quoting a famous aphorism by the writer J. V. Foix, "the new exalts us and the old makes us fall in love." Thus, the concert series will recover baroque classics, mostly unknown, but also betting on works of its own production and world premieres.
Program with its own stamp at Castell de Peralada
In the third edition of the Castell de Perelada festival, the cycle not only expands the number of concerts and days but also reinforces its commitment to its own production and the promotion of contemporary Catalan composers. The cycle will experience its peak on the night of Friday, April 18, with the world premiere of the version of the Responsorios for Holy Week by Catalan composer Bernat Vivancos.It is a newly created composition, specifically commissioned for the Perelada Festival, which will be performed at half past ten at nighta cappella,by one of the most recognized choirs on the world stage, the Lithuanian Radio Choir, directed by Sigvards Klava.Responsoria Hebdomadae Sanctae is the title of Vivancos' work, written for six mixed voices, which takes over from the composer from Reus Joan Magrané, who in the previous edition also premiered his own version of these responsories, Tenebrae Responsoria, also commissioned by the festival. Vivancos has described this commission as "the culmination of a dream", since, ever since he sang these texts at the Escolania de Montserrat at the age of 11, he felt a mystical connection, and had always wanted to reinterpret them. "It's a slow-cooked version, with time to rest and mature each passage, going to the essence, without doing or including anything gratuitously," says Vivancos.
But Vivancos' composition will not be the only premiere of the festival; the ensemble directed by Dani Espasa, Vespres d'Arnadí, will perform for the first time in Spain Sanctus Petrus et Santa Maria Magdalena, a Baroque masterpiece composed by the German Johann Adolf Hasse. The piece, an unusual Baroque gem that has been rarely performed in the world and never before in Spain, will open the Perelada festival on Thursday the 17th at eight in the evening.
Dani Espasa and his ensemble will star in another of the festival's highlights alongside baritone Benjamin Appl, when they will jointly perform songs by Baroque musicians such as Bach or Zelenka on Friday at six in the evening, before the premiere of Vivancos' Responsorios.
This composition represents another of the festival's main themes which, in addition to championing works with their own unique stamp, also advocates for the recovery of Baroque musical heritage, as the piece premiered in Venice on Good Friday of 1758. For its performance, Vespres d'Arnadí will also feature the voices of the Cor Infantil Amics de la Unió and soloists Valer Sabadus, Marie Lys, Maria Espada, Rafael Quirant, and Maria Salomé.
On Saturday at six in the afternoon it will be the turn of the world-renowned cellist Pablo Ferrández, together with pianist Luis Valle. A duo that will perform a program combining everything from Beethoven to Brahms. That same night, the polyphonic ensemble Cantoría ---formed by ten singers and a large instrumental ensemble of two violins, viola da gamba, violone, theorbo, and organ--- will perform Membra Jesu Nostri patientis sanctissima, composed by the Dane Dietrich Buxtehude. The work is a musical reflection on the body of Christ in the act of crucifixion, and each cantata corresponds to a specific part of the body, from the feet to the face.
The novelty of this edition of the Castell de Peralada festival will be the programming of a morning session on Sunday, expanding the number of concerts and days, a format they want to consolidate for future editions. In this case, it will be a concert starring singers Mélissa Pequeño and Ann Hallenberg, who will debut at the festival together with the orchestra Il Pomo De Oro. Tickets for the concerts range from 25 to 50 euros, and the experience can also be extended by dining at some of the options offered by the festival or staying at the Perelada hotel.