Leonardo García Alarcón returns to the art of pastiche with gusto in a programme that features tales of love, drama and betrayal under the Sicilian sun through popular tunes and pieces by the great early music composers.
Mariana Flores and Quito Gato guide us in this sweet, lighthearted exploration of popular South American songs. Thanks to the powerful energy of these two musicians, the audience is invited to daydream and discover a whole new palette of emotions that are at once contradictory and magnificent.
The St John Passion is an icon of Western music replete with drama and emotion. To celebrate the work’s 300th anniversary, choreographer Sasha Waltz, who is no stranger to choreographed operas, is staging a new version under the musical direction of Leonardo García Alarcón.
Did you like Il Diluvio universale? You’ll love Il Dono della vita eterna!
Since Cappella Mediterranea’s beginnings, few works have inspired such intense public emotion as the rediscovery of Diluvio Universale, a masterpiece by long-forgotten composer Michelangelo Falvetti (1642-1692). The incredible beauty of this music is bound to touch anyone who listens to it.
This resolutely contemporary work is a passion that combines ancient and modern instruments, a hymn that honours the beauty and knowledge of women.
Based on the myth of Orpheus’ attempt to rescue his wife Eurydice from the Underworld, L’Orfeo is a milestone in the history of music, marking the end of Renaissance music and the beginning of the Baroque period. Leonardo García Alarcón and Cappella Mediterranea brilliantly interpret this magnificent love song that is also a poetic and theatrical fable about the power of music.
The composer pushed the boundaries of form in ways that roused the emotions and anger of his contemporaries. In 2017, in celebration of his 450th birthday, we had the opportunity to explore his work and highlight the contemporary force of his musical language.
“Cappella Mediterranea does not fail to stand out in what may appear to be a primarily vocal work, reminding us that “Sonata sopra Sancta Maria” is also a brilliant instrumental work. Under Leonardo García Alarcón’s sometimes whimsical but always precise baton, the ensemble proves to be remarkably flexible, providing the ideal setting for the vocals”. – Forumopera
Chouchane Siranossian – the guest of honour at the Festivals de Wallonie in 2019 –reunited with Leonardo García Alarcón in May 2020 to inaugurate this programme that is centred on Bach’s violin repertoire. The concert took place at the Opéra de Dijon after the first lockdown.
In Namur, Arcadelt inherited the technique of the Franco-Flemish composers. In Florence, he acquired elegance in poetic musical composition, in Rome, a sumptuous counterpoint, and in Paros, echoes of dance, court music and song.
Leonardo García-Alarcón sets out to give us a chance to hear these festive pages from a baroque period that bears witness to the fertile encounter between Spanish rhythms and Amerindian colours.
Rediscover Monteverdi’s ancient drama with Leonardo García Alarcón. As the tragedy unfolds, you will be as horrified by the events on stage as astounded by the inventive musical interpretation.
