Cappella Mediteranea

Opus Infinitum

Bach versus Haendel

Here, Leonardo García-Alarcón presents a pastiche, an assemblage of pieces from the works of Bach and Handel, often paired together to mirror instrumental melodies or complementary texts, sometimes in different languages. These associations allow us to navigate from one musical universe to another, in subtle and sometimes surprising ways, exploring the correspondences and differences between the two composers, who were born in the same year, in the same region, and yet never knew each other.

This alternation between the oratorios of one composer and the cantatas of the other, or between the concerti of these two monuments of Baroque music, is astonishing in the way the melodic lines respond to each other with obvious ease and harmonic logic.

Program

1 – Stile antico

HANDEL – « Egypt was glad when they departed »
Chorus from the oratorio Israel in Egypt, HWV 54 (Exodus, XI)

BACH – « Nimm von uns Herr, du treuer Gott »
Chorus from the cantata Nimm von uns Herr, du treuer Gott, BWV 101

2 – Stylus symphonicus

BACH – Sinfonia
Excerpt from the cantata Am Abend aber desselbigen Sabbats, BWV 42

HAENDEL – X. Allegro
Excerpt from Suite no. 1, X. HWV 348, Watermusic

Excerpt from Concerto for oboe and strings in F major, BWV 1053

3 – Orpheus & Euridice

BACH – II. Affettuoso, Concerto Brandebourgeois n° 5 BWV 1050 – on a text from the libretto of Orpheus by Georg Philip Telemann

4 – Il madrigale concertato

HANDEL – Wretched lovers!
Chorus from the opera Acis and Galatea, HWV 49

BACH – « Es ist ein trotzig und verzagt Ding »
Chorus from the cantata Es ist ein trotz

5 – Stylus gravis

BACH – « Ich elender Mensch, wer wird mich erlösen »
Chorus from the cantata Ich elender Mensch, wer wird mich erlösen, BWV 48

HANDEL – « Mourn, all ye Muses »
Chorus from the opera Acis and Galatea, HWV 49

6 – Cantata italiana

BACH – « Parti pur, e con dolore »
Excerpt from the cantata Non sa che sia dolore, BWV 209

HANDEL – « Ah crudele! E pur ten’ vai »
Excerpt from the cantata Armida abbandonata, HWV 105

7 – Passion duettos

HANDEL – « Soll mein Kind »
Duo from Brockes-passion, HWV 48

BACH – « So ist mein Jesu »
Duo from the St Matthew Passion, BWV 244

BACH – « Himmel Reiße »
Aria and chorale from the St John Passion, BWV 245 (1725 version)

INTERMISSION

8 – Durezze e stravaganze armoniche

HANDEL – « He sent a thick darkness »
Chorus from the oratorio Israel in Egypt, HWV 54 (Exodus, VII)

BACH – « Es kommt aber die Zeit »
Chorus from cantate Sie werden euch in den Bann tun, BWV 44

9 – Fugati canonici in stile dramatico

HANDEL – « He smote all the first born of Egypt »
Chorus from the oratorio Israel in Egypte, HWV 54 (Exodus, VIII)

BACH – « Herr, gehe nicht ins Gericht mit deinem Knecht »
Chorus from the cantata Herr, gehe nicht ins Gericht mit deinem Knecht, BWV 105

10 – Funeral music

BACH – « An dir, du Fürbild grosser Frauen »
Chorus from the cantata Laß, Fürstin, laß noch einen Strahl, BWV 198

HANDEL – « The way of Zion do mourn »
Chorus from the Funeral anthem for Queen Caroline, HWV 264

BACH – « Ich harre des Herrn »
Chorus chorus from the cantata Aus der Tiefen rufe ich, Herr, zu dir, BWV 131

11 – Lamentos de España

HANDEL – « No se emendará jamás »
Excerpt from Cantata Spagnola, HWV 140

BACH – « Unser trefflicher » – Folia
Aria and chorus from the cantata Mer hahn en neue oberkeet, BWV 212

12 – Allein zu dir, herr Jesu Christ, Hallelujah

HANDEL – « Hallelujah! »
Chorus from the oratorio Messiah, HWV 56

BACH – « Allein zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ »
Chorus from the cantata Allein zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ, BWV 33

Cast

Elizaveta Sveshnikova, (Namur, april 2024) / Ana Vieira Leite (Ambronay & Geneva, sept. 2024), soprano
Hugh Cutting (Namur, april 2024) / Loga Lopez Gonzalez (Ambronay & Geneva, sept. 2024) countertenor
Guy Cutting (Namur, april 2024) / Samuel Boden (Ambronay & Geneva, sept. 2024), tenor
Adrien Fournaison, bass

Musical direction | Leonardo García-Alarcón
Chœur de Chambre de Namur
Cappella Mediterranea

Prochaines dates

Find out more about our other productions

Namur – 21 avril 2024

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21 Avril 2024

16h00

Église de Saint-Loup

Namur, Belgium

28 Septembre 2024

20h30

Festival d'Ambronay, Abbatiale

Ambronay, France

29 Septembre 2024

17h00

La Cité Bleue

Geneva, Switzerland