VESPRES D'ARNADÍ & COR FRANCESC VALLS
CRISTO CONDANNATO
A baroque meditation on guilt and redemption
Premiered on Maundy Thursday in 1717 at the Hofkapelle in Vienna, "Cristo Condannato" is one of Antonio Caldara's most intense oratorios and is being presented this Easter for the first time in modern times in this country. The work does not offer a conventional narrative of the Passion: it is a moral meditation on justice, guilt and repentance, with dramatic force and extraordinary spiritual depth.
The libretto by Pietro Pariati sets the action at the trial of Jesus before Pontius Pilate, but incorporates allegorical characters such as Il Sacro Testo and L’Anima Compunta, representing human conscience. Pilate, a weak and wavering ruler, oscillates between truth and fear of the people, while the crowd demands crucifixion.
Caldara's music unfolds with exceptional beauty and expressiveness, with recitatives that intensify the drama, arias of striking lyricism, and extraordinary choruses, especially in the interventions of the angelic choir that close each part.
The Peralada Festival presents the work by Vespres d’Arnadí, with Dani Espasa on the harpsichord and directing. The cast includes Ana Quintans, Maite Beaumont, Nicolas Brooymans, Montserrat Seró, and Josep Ramon Olivé, accompanied by the Francesc Valls Choir, under the direction of Pere Lluís Biosca, who debuts at the festival as a resident artist. A unique opportunity to be moved by a work that, three centuries later, continues to speak with striking intensity to our present.
Premiered on Maundy Thursday in 1717 at the Hofkapelle in Vienna, "Cristo Condannato" is one of Antonio Caldara's most intense oratorios and is being presented this Easter for the first time in modern times in this country. The work does not offer a conventional narrative of the Passion: it is a moral meditation on justice, guilt and repentance, with dramatic force and extraordinary spiritual depth.
The libretto by Pietro Pariati sets the action at the trial of Jesus before Pontius Pilate, but incorporates allegorical characters such as Il Sacro Testo and L’Anima Compunta, representing human conscience. Pilate, a weak and wavering ruler, oscillates between truth and fear of the people, while the crowd demands crucifixion.
Caldara's music unfolds with exceptional beauty and expressiveness, with recitatives that intensify the drama, arias of striking lyricism, and extraordinary choruses, especially in the interventions of the angelic choir that close each part.
The Peralada Festival presents the work by Vespres d’Arnadí, with Dani Espasa on the harpsichord and directing. The cast includes Ana Quintans, Maite Beaumont, Nicolas Brooymans, Montserrat Seró, and Josep Ramon Olivé, accompanied by the Francesc Valls Choir, under the direction of Pere Lluís Biosca, who debuts at the festival as a resident artist. A unique opportunity to be moved by a work that, three centuries later, continues to speak with striking intensity to our present.
Carmen Church
Artistic details
Ana QUINTANS - Anima Compunta
Nicolas BROOYMANS - Pilato Maite
BEAUMONT - Sacro testo
Josep Ramón OLIVÉ - Capo Popolo
Montserrat SERÓ - Moglie Pilato
COR FRANCESC VALLS
Pere LLUÍS BIOSCA, choir director
VESPRES D’ARNADÍ
Dani ESPASA, musical director