Ensemble Correspondances
Dir. Sébastien Daucé
Sanctuary of Our Lady of Graces, Żabbar
What a super evening this was, a kind of foretaste of the third International Baroque Festival due to start in less than a month’s time. The choice of venue was rather uncommon, although the Żabbar Sanctuary certainly provides an excellent setting for music such as this: religious and, at this time of the year, perfectly suited for Christmas.
Indeed, this was tailor-made for the programme prepared by Sébastien Daucé , which portrays the story of Christ’s Nativity through the medium of French 17th-century music.
The traditional 17th-century carol, or noël, À la venue de Noël served as a general introduction. The music has a certain sturdy rhythm which reflects its popular origins, projected with incisiveness and clarity that revealed the technical and interpretative skill of the thoroughly-prepared singers and instrumentalists.
The story unfolded with Bouzignac’s Visitat Maria Elisabeth, sung in French and which, as its title implies, refers to the Visitation when shortly after the Annunciation Our Lady visited her kinswoman Elizabeth, already pregnant with St John the Baptist.
The sound of those beautiful voices continued resounding in the sanctuary when in even greater detail the story reappeared in Boësset’s Magnificat, to the well-known text from St Luke’s gospel. The difference here was that this was sung by the four female singers.
The printed programme did not provide the names of the singers or musicians, so it is not possible to single out by name a quite extraordinary lady with a most unusual deep, beautiful voice which interacted very well during exchanges with the other ladies. One of the sopranos too had a really lovely voice, as did the baritone and the bass in the other pieces performed.
They could stand out well in solo passages, but as an ensemble they were perfectly cohesive.
No less than four works by the great Marc Antoine Charpentier were performed during this concert. The first was a Litanie de la Vierge, singing the praises of the Blessed Virgin Mary, in French with lots of dialogue between different vocal sections and with a rather extended instrumental conclusion. (Later another Litanie of his was sung in Latin).
The more popular/folk element could be felt in the next two settings of the same text. One is traditional while the other setting of Or Nous Dites, Marie is by Charpentier. This is a charming conversation between the chorus and the Virgin Mary in which the latter answers questions put to her regarding the main events in her life.
Those most relevant leading to the Nativity of Christ are highlighted.
This unique feast of music for Christmas continued with Moulinië’s Magi Vidente Stellam, with the Three Wise Men setting off in search of the king whose birth was announced by a great bright star. It was with Charpentier that the concert concluded.