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Gabrieli's largest ever residency

This September, Gabrieli embarked on the largest residency in its 25-year history as part of the Wratislavia Cantans Festival in Wrocław, Poland.  This was the second year Gabrieli was resident in Wrocław, a charming riverside city undergoing an exciting regeneration.  Combined, the Consort and Players performed five different programmes spread over nine concerts from 6-17 September, both in Wrocław and the outlying towns of Polkowice, Bolesławiec, Głogów and Kłodzko.



The programmes presented in this residency displayed the breadth of repertoire for which the Gabrieli Consort & Players are increasingly renowned.  On 6 September, a choir and orchestra of 90 opened the festival with Beethoven’s sacred masterpiece, Missa Solemnis while in contrast, the Consort alone showcased two new a cappella choral programmes in and around Wrocław.  A Spotless Rose, recorded for Deutsche Grammophon in July for release in 2008 explores the vast legacy of music composed in praise of the Virgin Mary.  Pieces by Giles Swayne, Thomas Adès, and Arnold Bax, among others, look back to similarly inspired works by Josquin, Palestrina, and Mouton (7-8 September).  The 19^th and 20^th century choral heritage of the British Isles was presented in From a Green and Pleasant Land with works by Vaughn Williams, Elgar, James MacMillan, Finzi, Stanford, and Judith Bingham.  Directed by James Burton, this programme’s works were inspired by the beauty of the countryside and the natural world, Britain’s literary and poetical inheritance, as well as influences provided by the rich legacy of traditional music and folklore of the British Isles (10-11 September).



To highlight the partnership between Gabrieli and the Festival (Paul McCreesh became Artistic Director of the Wratislavia Cantans Festival in 2006), the Consort joined the Wrocław Witold Lutosławski Philharmonic Choir and Sinfonia Varsovia under Paul McCreesh’s baton for Brahms’ Ein Deutsches Requiem (14-15 September).  Monteverdi’s Vespers of 1610, a classic and highly virtuosic Gabrieli programme, closed the festival on 17 September.

But the Gabrieli Consort & Players were not alone at this large festival, which is now in its 42nd year.   Additional performers included the Monteverdi Choir & English Baroque Soloists, Il Concerto Italiano, Rias-Kammerchor, Cantus Cölln, Nicholas Daniel (oboe), Royal String Quartet, The Cardinall’s Musick and several local choirs and orchestras such as Wrocław’s own Orkiestra Barokowa Filharmonii.

For a link to the festival’s concert listings, click here.