“power is in no way synonymous with intensity. The latter came way ahead during the concert performed by the Banquet Céleste, conducted by Damien Guillon and his admirable soloists. The abbatial church was filled with an attentive audience, who appreciated the fluid music and the singers’ remarkable expressiveness in their representation of Maddalena ai Piedi di Cristo by Antonio Caldara. The ensemble’s promise of poignant intensity never failed; the audience rode on the sinner’s wave of extraordinary affects, and was swept away by the work’s operatic flair. Pierre-Olivier Febvret
L'EveilMaddalena ai piedi di Cristo
A. Caldara
A. Caldara
With
Emmanuelle de Negri, Maddalena
Maïlys de Villoutreys, Marta
Benedetta Mazzucato, Amor Terrestro
Damien Guillon, Amor Celeste & musical director
Reinoud van Mechelen, Cristo
Riccardo Novaro, Fariseo
Le Banquet Céleste
Maddalena ai piedi di Cristo is one of the most accomplished Italian oratorios from the 18th century, both from a musical and dramatic point of view.
The choice of this Oratorio came as part of the Banquet Céleste’s artistic development plans, aiming to support the European Baroque repertoire through a selection of iconic works from that era performed by foreground soloists, and explore the link between theatrical declamation and musical expression. As such, the team of singers chosen for this projects includes renowned specialists in this repertoire – combining great technical proficiency with key expressiveness and dramatic appeal.
Rennes’ opera house, where the ensemble was based until December 2018, will be staging this production. The concert will be recorded onto a “live” disk released by Glossa, thus enriching a fairly poor discography for this Oratorio.
This production received creative and broadcasting aid from the Spedidam, a distribution and perception company that manages artist and performer rights with regard to the recording, broadcast and use of the recorded performances.