“Joan Manuel Serrat inevitably brings me back to my childhood in Argentina and Sunday family gatherings at my Uncle Alberto’s house, where we would listen to Serrat and Beethoven, Bach’s St Matthew Passion and Mozart’s Requiem, Chopin waltzes and Schumann’s Scenes from Childhood . These shared moments brought us children into contact with poetry and music and that experience is still very much alive in me today.
Leonardo García Alarcón
“Serrat usually sings his songs himself. It is rare to hear them performed by others. Since the music and the performer are inseparable, it was difficult for us to interpret his songs. We therefore decided to transpose them for other tessituras. Some were even transformed into 16th century-style polyphonic madrigals. The orchestration features 17th century instruments like the recorder, cornet, violin, viola da gamba, cello, lute, harp, harpsichord and organ, along with percussion and a double bass. Our singer, Maria Hinojosa Montenegro, is from the Barcelona region. She introduced us to many Catalan songs and told us about the love that the people of Catalonia still have for Serrat. Most of our singers and musicians were not familiar with Serrat, but as the days went on, they made his music their own. Our goal is to show audiences that Serrat has universal appeal and is not just for Spanish speakers.” Leonardo García Alarcón
Lucas Ruiz de Ribayaz (1626-after 1677) Xácara por primo tono (instrumental)
Francisco Valls (1671-1747) Esta vez Cupidillo
Federico Mompou (1893-1987) Música callada (“Silenced music”). Extract for piano and Spanish baroque harp, arranged by Quito Gato.
Juan José Cabanilles (1644-1712) Mortales que amais
José Marín (1618-1699) Ojos pues me desdeñáis
Mateo Flecha, el Viejo (1481-1553) La Bomba
Mateo Romero (c. 1575-1647) Romerico florido
Diego José de Salazar (1659-1709) Afuera pompas humanas
Joan Manuel Serrat (born in 1943) (arrangements by Quito Gato)
De vez en cuando la vida
With an interlude by Guillaume Dufay (1397-1474)
Romance de Curro el Palmo
La canço dell ladre
La preso de Lleida
Aquellas pequeñas cosas
Mediterraneo
Performance running time: approx. 1 hour and 30 minutes
Leonardo García Alarcón, organ, spinet and direction
Maria Hinojosa, soprano
Mariana Flores, soprano
Leandro Marziotte, alto
Valerio Contaldo / Pierre-Antoine Chaumien, Fall 2020, tenor
Hugo Oliveira, bass
Quito Gato, vihuela and guitar
Monica Pustilnik, guitar
Marie Bournisien, Spanish harp
Margaux Blanchard, viola da gambas
Diana Vinagre, cello
Rodrigo Calveyra, flutes, cornet
Amandine Solano, violin
Sue-Ying Koang, violin
Éric Mathot, double bass
Performances of this programme in the Occitanie region were sponsored by the Fondation d’entreprise AG2R LA MONDIALE pour la vitalité artistique.
Cappella Mediterranea’s concert in Dortmund on 24 April 2020 was sponsored by Le Bureau Export.
