The “Caribbean Concert Spirituel” concert will take place on 6 September 2021 (Monday) at 7:00 p.m. at the Bolesławiec Marian Basilica at 3 Kościelna Street in Bolesławiec.
Caribbean Concert Spirituel
- Pedro Memelsdorff – conductor
- Francesca Benitez – first soprano
- Belén Vaquero – second soprano
- Markéta Cukrová – mezzo-soprano
- Luca Cervoni – tenor
- Yannis François – baritone
- Marco Saccardin – bass
- Arlequin Philosophe
Programme
- Religious music in the French Caribbean from 1760 to 1790
- Messe en cantiques à lʼusage des Nègres (excerpts)
Works performed during the Concert spirituel held on Christmas Day in Port-au-Prince in 1780 (Giovanni Battista Pergolesi, Adolphe Benoît Blaise, Jean-Paul-Égide Martini, Egidio Duni, François-Joseph Gossec, Nicolas-Marie Dalayrac)
A project carried out as part of celebrations marking the centenary of the restoration of independence and the reconstruction of the Polish state.
Well known to Wrocław audiences, Pedro Memelsdorff is an open-minded and inquisitive artist who enjoys seeking out new repertoire. Although, as a researcher, he works professionally mainly with medieval music, he has recently become interested in works performed in the 18th century in the French colonies in the Caribbean. The results of this research will form the programme of the concert, during which Memelsdorff will lead the Arlequin Philosophe ensemble.
We know quite a lot about the culture of the wealthy French plantation owners thanks to surviving documents, letters and press materials. Until recently, however, the musical life of the Black enslaved people who worked for them had been virtually unknown. Thanks to Memelsdorff’s efforts, we will be able to lift at least a little of the veil of mystery. Caribbean Concert Spirituel will consist of two elements. The first will be a reconstruction of the Christmas concert held in Port-au-Prince on 25 December 1780. At that time, Black musicians performed excerpts from French operas, and the sensation was caused by the barely 14-year-old Elizabeth Ferrand, known as Minette. This event opened the door to a career for her, and history remembers her as the first Black female singer to perform leading roles in operas. Her repertoire included around forty parts!
We will also hear a reconstruction of a mass consisting of fourteen sections, written for enslaved people and dated to 1740. Among the arrangements of the individual sections are both relatively simple passages in terms of performance and more difficult parts intended for talented and more advanced singers, most likely educated by local Jesuit missionaries. Caribbean Concert Spirituel will be a one-of-a-kind presentation of music that was until recently completely forgotten, giving voice to a community seeking beauty and opportunities for expression in times of contempt and oppression.
