Concert by the EDP Foundation Camerata of the Reina Sofía School of Music for Butacas Members, conducted by Giovanni Guzzo. Sony Auditorium (Madrid) 12/18/2024
Charity Christmas concert to support those affected by the DANA in Valencia, with all proceeds going to the Spanish Red Cross and the Valencian Association of Charity (Casa Caridad).
The program begins with one of the most famous scores by the German C.W. Gluck, a fragment from his “Orfeo ed Eurídice,” an opera from 1762. The “Dance of the Blessed Spirits” was developed by Gluck in a later revision of this influential opera, a beautiful melody with a prominent role for the flute intended for the ballet that opens the second scene of Act II, with the idea of transporting us to the idyllic Elysian Fields.
GLUCK, Christoph Wilibald
Orfeo Ed Euridice (Orpheus and Eurydice)
“Dance of the Blessed Spirits”
Matthew Raymond Origel, flute I
“Praise God in all nations!”, is a church cantata by J.S. Bach full of brilliant virtuoso passages dedicated to the soprano and the trumpet, which sometimes seem to compete to see who can transmit greater praise with their rapid leaps. Bach wrote them for specific days of the liturgical calendar (in this case for the 3rd Sunday of September 1730), but surely aware of the cheerful and general celebration of his composition, he added that it could be performed “at any time”.
BACH, Johann Sebastian
Church Cantata “Jauchzet Gott in Allen Landen!” for Soprano, Trumpet, Strings and Basso Continuo BWV 51
I. Aria “Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen!”
Marlin González Zúñiga, soprano
Marc Ferrando Pelegrí, trumpet
Continuing with this same festive character, W.A. Mozart invites us – through a motet composed at the age of 17 – to rejoice and be glad (Exsultate, jubilate) so that we may be granted peace, consoling us from the feelings that make the heart sigh. Like the previous works in the program, the operatic language is very present here and also includes complicated passages that require great virtuosity on the part of the soloist (currently a soprano, and in his time a male castrato).
MOZART, Wolfgang Amadeus
Exsultate, jubilate for soprano, two oboes, two horns, strings, and basso continuo in F major K 165
I. Exsultate, jubilate (Allegro)
II. Fulget amica dies
III. Tu virginum corona (Andante)
IV. Alleluia (Molto Allegro)
Carla Isabel Gómez del Pulgar, soprano
It concludes with the famous Symphony no. 40 “The Great”, by a more mature Mozart of 32 years in full productive swing. In just two months he wrote his last 3 symphonies: the 39th, 40th and 41st. Despite this creative speed, Mozart achieved one of the best-known masterpieces of classical music in a well-deserved manner due to its great beauty and rich emotional expressiveness.
MOZART, Wolfgang Amadeus
Symphony No. 40 in G minor, K 550
I. Molto allegro
II. Andante
III. Menuetto. Allegretto – Trio
IV. Allegro assai
Encore:
GRUBER, Franz Xaver
Stille Nacht (Silent Night) (J. Mohr) for voices and guitar GWV 145 (arrangement for chamber orchestra)
Camerata Fundación EDP of the Reina Sofía School of Music
Giovanni Guzzo, conductor
