Cantadas de Pasión
Spanish baroque music for soprano and instruments
Accentus Austria (Austria)
Thomas Wimmer – artistic director
Carmen Botella Galbis (Spain) – soprano
Wednesday 13 July 2005, 7.30 pm
Troja Chateau, U Trojského zámku 1, Praha 7
If one were to name two typical aspects of the Spanish music production of the latter half of the 17th and the first half of the 18th century, it would be the vocal forms (opera, zarzuela and cantata) and pieces for plucking instruments. At the royal court in Madrid a number of composers were attempting a unique Spanish vocal style – albeit with an undeniable Italian influence. The most typical genre of the Spanish production at the time is zarzuela, the original Spanish musical theatre form with comic elements which alternated sang and spoken parts. One of its foremost authors was Sebastián Durón. The solo performance of the Spanish soprano Carmen Botella Galbis was interspersed with works by some of the important exponents of Spanish instrumental music of the period, such as the guitar player Gaspar Sanz or the harp player Juan Hidalgo.
