We come back to the Palau with The Four Seasons by Vivaldi.
At Vespres d’Arnadí, we have a slightly unique way of celebrating Christmas. Of course, we love sharing Händel’s Messiah and other suitable repertoire for this time of year with you, but for some time now, we have created our own tradition: filling the Palau de la Música to offer you The Four Seasons by Vivaldi, one of the most popular Baroque pieces that we thoroughly enjoy performing. And, since we’re celebrating, we also celebrate having the fabulous Farran Sylvan James, our regular concertmaster, in our ranks to play the virtuosic solo part.
In The Four Seasons, we find Vivaldi at his best: the imaginative, passionate, bold, and sensitive composer. The depiction of nature and, even more so, of the human experience within nature that flows through this score is both prodigious and astonishing, as is its emotional expressiveness, ambition, formal innovation, and melodic inventiveness. Published in 1725, these concertos enjoyed enormous success at the time but eventually fell into obscurity over the years. Fortunately, the 20th century restored them to their rightful place, and now we can help to enhance their legacy with these three concerts at the Palau (December 22, January 3, and January 12).
Did you know that Vivaldi included a sonnet with each concerto to poetically describe its essence? Today’s audiences rarely have the chance to experience this, but we will bring it to you thanks to actress Iraida Sardà, who will transform into a rhapsodist to give voice to the composer’s spoken poetry. As for the musical poetry, we’ll take care of that.
