Concert 12th august 2023 – Festival de Pollença

ORQUESTRA SIMFÒNICA ILLES BALEARS

CORAL UNIVERSITAT DE LES ILLES BALEARS

Joan COMPANY FLORIT, director convidat

Judith VAN WANROIJ, soprano

Missa en si menor BWV 232 (selecció)

J.S. Bach (1685 – 1750)

      «Gloria in excelsis Deo», cor a 5
      «Et in terra pax hominibus», cor a 5
      «Laudamus te», ària soprano
      «Gratias agimus tibi», cor a 4

Nänie (Nènia), Op. 82

J. Brahms (1833 – 1897)

Meeresstille und Glückliche Fahrt (Mar en calma i bon viatge), op. 112

L.v. Beethoven (1770 – 1827)

Pausa

Zadok the Priest (El sacerdot Sadoc), HW 258

G. F. Handel (1685 – 1759)

Psalm 42, Op. 42 (MWV A 15)

F. Mendelssohn (1809 – 1847)

I. Cor. Lento e sostenuto

II. Ária. Adagio

III. Recitatiu i ària. Allegro assai

IV. Cor. Allegro maestoso assai

V. Recitatiu

VI. Quintet. Allegro moderato

VII. Cor final. Maestoso assai – Molto allegro vivace

PROGRAM NOTES

Joan Company

Founding Director of the University of the Balearic Islands Choir

Meeres Stille und Glückliche Fahrt (Calm Sea and Happy Journey) is the title of Beethoven’s piece we will hear this evening. It might be an excellent way to denote and express the University of the Balearic Islands Choir (CUIB) birth and path: «From the calm island» – that is, calm sea, a group of young university singers and I as a conductor appeared on the musical and cultural circuits of our Mallorca. And now, for personal reasons, this will be my last concert as a choirmaster. We have indeed gone on a joyful journey to different spots: our islands, the mainland, most European countries, America…

That is why we open our programme with a selection of the Mass in B minor by J. S. Bach, «Gloria» – as if it were a cantata – containing an incipit. Gloria today has a very special meaning: gratitude, glory, praise and windfall for these 46 years of the University of the Balearic Islands Choir and a special «thank you» to all those who have joined me throughout these years in which I have been in charge of the ensemble I founded in the 1976-77 academic year.

Therefore, today’s concert is a celebratory and emotive party and for the choral music and a present that music has given me to close a personal stage. From the late 19th century to date, it is clear that choral music has exercised a strong cultural impact on society and communities’ musical progress. Besides, I have always believed that choral singing has a special force, a spell or bewitchment that even exceeds strictly musical dimensions. A choir is not only a group of people who sing but a space and a circle where human relationships – with their existence and coexistence, become an unbeatable source of knowledge, of strong and solid friendships, irrigated all over by the gift of selflessness.

The concert programme is based on music by some highly representative composers of the vast symphonic-choral repertoire – a musical genre that is part of the Choir’s history and has allowed us to offer symphonic concerts so much in Mallorca with our beloved OSIB as in the cities of Barcelona, A Coruña, Granada, Sevilla, Santiago, València, Madrid…

At the same time, these works’ selection speaks to us—let not forget that «singing is the words’ light»—of the evangelical message (trust in God and glory of their name), of the earthly power (through royalty and monarchy), of beauty and its ephemeral state («Auch das Schöne muss sterben» – Even beauty must die) and of nature and love for the earth, always hoping to preserve our planet. This evening’s programme is a unique melding of religion and humanism, spirituality and hope. Finally, as a curiosity, we have brought together and twinned the three B’s of music: Bach, Beethoven and Brahms, of whom the Choir has performed a highly representative number of opuses.

PROGRAMME

I. BACH

«Gloria in excelsis Deo»: Gloria is like a five-mixed-voices earthly dance with the entire instrumental ensemble.

«Et in terra pax hominibus»: the spirit of dance, with the new metric unit, leads to the «Peace on earth» statement. A beautiful fugue for five voices turns it into a prayer for peace.

«Laudamus té»: a thanksgiving song for soprano and violin soloists.

«Gratias agimus tibi»: big heart, a four-mixed-voices adaptation of the BWV 29 Cantata.

«Soli Deo gloria»: Bach used to write the “SDG” (Glory to God alone) initials at the end of his compositions.

II. BRAHMS

Nänie is the name of a mourning goddess and a wail over death. Johannes Brahms set music for chorus and orchestra to Friedrich Schiller’s poem («Even beauty must die») from 1880, in memory of painter and friend Anselm Feuerbach.

III. BEETHOVEN

Meeresstille und Glückliche Fahrt, op. 112 (Calm Sea and Happy Journey) is a cantata for choir and orchestra on excerpts of poems by Johann W. von Goethe. The composition has a single movement, divided into two sections: I. Sostenuto and II. Allegro vivace.

IV. HAENDEL

Zadok the Priest is a three-part hymn composed by Georg Friedrich Händel for the coronation of King George II in 1727. It is one of the Coronation Anthems.

V. MENDELSSOHN

Psalm 42, op. 42 is a cantata by Felix Mendelssohn for soloist, chorus and orchestra. Schumann said that with this composition, Mendelssohn had managed to make the best church music of that time and that the composer himself acknowledged it was the best sacred piece he had composed.

1. Chorus Lento e sostenuto

2. Aria for soprano

3. Recitative and aria for soprano and female chorus

4. Chorus Allegro maestoso assai

5. Recitative for soprano

6. Quintetto for soprano and male choir

7. Schluschor Maestoso assai—Molto allegro vivace

SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA OF THE BALEARIC ISLANDS (OSIB)

The Symphony Orchestra of the Balearic Islands is considered one of the leading symphonies in Spain. It was created in 1988 under the Fundació Pública de les Balears per a la Música, encompassing the Balearic Government, Palma Townhall and Mallorca Council.

Although the Balearic Islands’ symphonic history dates back to the ’40s, the orchestra’s formation as we know it today is down to the maestro Luís Remartínez, its conductor and artistic director from 1988 to 1994. The maestros following him were Philippe Bender (1994-1997 and 2005-2009), Salvador Brotons (1997-2000 and 2009-2013), Geoffrey Simon (2001-2002), Edmon Colomer (2002-2005), Josep Vicent (2013-2014) and Joji Hattori (2014-2018) as title co-director. Their current director is maestro Pablo Mielgo.

The orchestra performs its regular season symphonically – season ticket period in the Auditorium de Palma, symphonic concerts in Menorca, Ibiza and Formentera, season ticket period in the Auditori de Manacor, exclusive shows in Mallorca, as well as lyrically – opera season of the Fundació Teatre Principal de Palma and Amics de l’Òpera de Maó. In their summer season, the OSIB carries out the festival “Estius Simfònics” (Symphonic Summers), based at the Castell de Bellver, partnering with other festivals such as Pollença or Formentor Sunset Classics. In addition to its artistic schedule, extensive teaching efforts are made through programmes such as “Simfònica en família” and “Simfònica en societat” (the symphony for family and society), bringing music to groups facing social exclusion.

One of our primary goals is to release the Balearic composers’ labour. Proof of that is that we hold Antoni Parera Fons as a composer in residence. Soon we will première a new work, Arxiduc, composed by him and written by Carme Riera – a member of the Real Academia Española.

Over the last 25 years, the orchestra has accompanied internationally renowned soloists, including Juan Diego Flórez, Frank Peter Zimmermann, Emmanuel Pahud, Khatia Buniatishvili, Giuliano Carmignola, Valentina Nafornita, Celso Albelo, Juan Manuel Cañizares, Kiri Te Kanawa, Teresa Berganza, Joaquín Achúcarro, Piotr Anderszewski, María Bayo, Simón Orfila, Katia and Marielle Labèque and the young Francisco Fullana.

The OSIB has performed outside of the Balearic Islands on numerous occasions, with their recent trip to Madrid’s Teatro Real together with the tenor Juan Diego Flórez, their journey to Zurich for a concert, particularly highlighting the mezzo Kate Lindsey, the show in Paris’ Radio Hall France with Khayia Buniatishvili and the concert in the UN’s Human Rights Room, in Geneva.

The OSIB has a label allowing them to distribute their recordings across over 40 music platforms, such as Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music and Google Play Music. Today, they hold four albums: “Revolució,” with Symphony No.7 by Beethoven and The Rite of Spring by Tchaikovsky; Symphony No. 2 by G. Mahler; and works by Majorcan composers in “Mallorca Suite” by Baltasar Samper; and “Foners,” by Antoni Parera Fons.

Besides enjoying these recordings, the OSIB displays the Balearic Islands’ talent and international scope through them, and its institutions prove their firm commitment to supporting culture as an essential element for the region’s future.

In 2020, the OSIB received the Gold Medal, the most prestigious award from the Balearic Government.

Coral Universidad de las Islas Baleares (University Choir of the Balearic Islands)

Choirmaster Joan Company and a group of students and professors from our university founded the choir forty-six years ago. Now, it is an important musical representation of the Balearic Islands and a major national reference point for choral music. The choir has performed in leading theatres and auditoriums in Spain (Barcelona, Madrid, Valencia, Seville, Granada, Oviedo, A Coruña, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Cuenca, Santiago, etc.) and has toured America (New York and Washington) and Europe (Germany, England, Austria, Belgium, France, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Czech Republic, Sweden, Switzerland, etc.).

The disciplined and unselfish participation of hundreds of singers has helped the choir build up a repertoire of more than seven hundred pieces covering everything ranging from Gregorian chant to contemporary music: works by composers from the Balearic Islands, a cappella music from all periods and great pieces from the symphonic-choral repertoire (Passion according to Saint John, Passion according to Saint Matthew and Passion according to Saint Mark by Bach; Messiah by Handel; The Creation by Haydn; El pesebre by Casals; Stabat Mater by Dvorak and Rossini, Atlántida by Falla, Lobgesang, Die Walpurgisnacht, Elias by Mendelssohn, Ivan the Terrible by Prokofiev, the Requiem by Britten, Mozart, Brahms, Verdi, Fauré and Duruflé; Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony and Mahler’s Third Symphony, A Sea Symphony by R. V. Williams, Symphony of Psalms by Stravinsky, Chichester Psalms by Bernstein, first audition in Spain of Das liebesmahl der Apostel by R. Wagner and Masses by Bach (Mass in B minor), Haydn, Mozart, Schubert, Bruckner, Bonet, etc.).

The choir has worked alongside renowned conductors and singers such as F. P. Decker, S. Mas, Víctor Pablo, C. Kalmar, T. Pinnock, N. Santi, K. Penderecki, Joan Pons, María Bayo, Teresa Berganza, Josep Carreras, Thomas Quasthoff, among others. It has worked with the leading Spanish orchestras (Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia, Orquesta Ciudad de Barcelona y Nacional de Cataluña, Real Orquesta Sinfónica de Sevilla, Joven Orquesta Nacional de España, Orquesta Sinfónica de Tenerife, Orquesta Ciudad de Granada, etc.) and European orchestras (The English Concert, I Fiamminghi, Camerata Anxanum, Orpheon Consort from Vienna, etc.). And, of course, it performs every season with the Orquesta Sinfónica Islas Baleares.

It has won prizes in choir competitions in Toulouse and Athens, among others, and received invitations to important music festivals such as Europalia 85-Belgium, Expo’92 in Seville, X Mozart Festival in Madrid, XX Early Music Festival in Barcelona, Chopin Festival in Austria, the Czech Republic and Poland, Budapest Spring Festival, 46th Cuenca Religious Music Week, Pau Casals de Prada Festival, Quimper Music Weeks (France) or the 67th Bayreuth Young Artists Festival (Germany). Some of the awards received include the Bartomeu Oliver Award of the Obra Cultural Balear (1991), the “Premio Importante de Diario de Mallorca” (April 1999), the Ramon Llull Award for the Arts of the Government of the Balearic Islands (2002), the Populares 2013 from the COPE, the City Shield of the City Council of Palma (2018) and the Medal of Honour of the Conservatory of Music of the Balearic Islands (2018).

The University Choir of the Balearic Islands (founded in 1976-77) has managed to establish a complete choir structure based on three basic pillars: a) training: a true centre of choral singing has been promoted with ten affiliated choirs; b) research: funds have been used for research and promotion of the island and contemporary musical heritage; and, finally,

c) dissemination: the great symphonic-choral repertoire has been shared with the Balearic Islands’ society.

Joan Company, founding choirmaster of the Coral Universidad de las Islas Baleares (University Choir of the Balearic Islands)

Joan Company (Sant Joan, Mallorca) has conducted some of the most important choirs in Spain: the Orfeón Donostiarra, the Coro Nacional de España, the Coro de Radio Televisión Española, the Coro de la Comunidad de Madrid, the Coro da Camera Italiano, and more. For the 51st Festival Internacional de Canto Coral de Barcelona, he led the performance of El mirador for choir and orchestra, by Josep Vila, at the Palau de la Música Catalana. He has premiered choral works by D. Artés, J. Busto, J. Domínguez, J. Elberdin, A. Martorell, A. Parera Fondo, C. Reda, J. L. Turina, J. Vila, etc. He has also premiered works by A. Martorell, J. Martorell and J. Valent with the Orquesta Sinfónica de Baleares.

Some of his most important conducting credits include the Orquesta Sinfónica de Asturias, Orquesta de Cámara Reina Sofía, Joven Orquesta Nacional de España (where he was assistant conductor in the production of La Atlántida by Falla), University of Portland Orchestra (Oregon, USA), Camerata Anxanum (Italy), Orpheon Consort from Vienna, Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia… He has also collaborated with conductors such as T. Pinnock, Víctor Pablo, S. Mas, J. Pons, F. P. Decker, A. Zedda, A. Ros Marbà, C. Hogwood, M. A. Gómez Martínez, K. Penderecki, N. Santi, J. López Cobos, T. Koopman, R. Egarr, E. Inbal, D. Slobodeniouk, L. Maazel, etc.

Between 1999 and 2022, he was the artistic director of the Choir of the Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia (OSG) from its creation, preparing an extensive and varied symphonic-choral repertoire (including all of Mahler’s symphonies, among others), operatic (Mozart, Donizetti, Rossini, Tchaikovsky, Puccini, Verdi, Wagner, etc.) and a cappella repertoire, which has led the OSG Choir to take part in ambitious, high-level artistic productions. He also created a choral project with the Niños Cantores in the OSG (2000) and the Coro Joven in the OSG (2005). He is currently the honorary director.

However, his most well-known choral work is as founding choirmaster of the Coral Universidad de las Islas Baleares (1977), gaining important artistic recognition both in the Balearic Islands and in mainland Spain and abroad. He has created the subsidiary choirs (ten groups), won prizes in choral competitions (Toulouse, Athens…), performed in the main concert halls in Spain and at important festivals in Europe and America, collaborated with the most important orchestras in Spain and Europe, made recordings, disseminated the choral heritage of the Islands. For example, he recorded the Mass by Pau Villalonga (1609), the first Chapel Master of the Cathedral of Mallorca, with the group Poema Harmónico under his direction.

A graduate in General History, he studied choral conducting with P. Cao, M. Cabero and O. Martorell (with classes in Spain, France and Belgium). He was number 1 in his class (1985) as a high school music teacher. He works at the University of the Balearic Islands (UIB) as director of the UIB Choir, the chamber group Poema Harmónico and the UIB Music Library and Documentation Centre. Also, he is founder, director and teacher of the International Music Courses at UIB (1977) and the Balearic Summer Music Camps (1995). In addition, he has published numerous studies and articles on Balearic music and musicians in books, encyclopaedias and specialised journals. He has also collaborated with Spanish and foreign musicological institutions.

Honours received include the Rotary Mallorca Award (Humanities 1995-96) and the Rotary Ramon Llull Award (2011) for “extraordinary work in teaching and disseminating choral music”; the Gabriel Alomar Award 2001 from the Obra Cultural Balear; the Silver Siurell Award from Última Hora, for Cultural Values 2020.

In 2022, he was appointed Chapel Master and head of the Seu de Mallorca music department.

Judith VAN WANROIJ, soprano

Dutch soprano Judith van Wanroij is “renowned for her intensely dramatical interpretations of rediscovered and less-known operas.” She is praised for surprisingly conveying poetry and its colours.

Since her debut at Opéra de Lyon in the roles of Virtù and Drusilla in L’Incoronazione di Poppea, she has performed numerous roles at leading opera houses such as Teatro Real Madrid, Dutch National Opera, La Monnaie Lincoln Center New York, Gran Teatre del Liceu, Opéra national du Rhin, Opéra Royal de Versailles, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Théâtre des Champs Elysées, Theater Basel and the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence.

Judith van Wanroij studied with Margreet Honig at the Conservatory of Amsterdam and the Dutch National Opera Academy. She was a first prize winner at the 2003 Erna Spoorenberg Vocalisten Presentation and took part in the Jardin des Voix 2005, the vocal academy of Les Arts Florissants and William Christie.

The core of her repertoire consists of, but is not limited to, French and Italian baroque music, French romantic repertoire and Mozart’s vocal works. A selection of her leading roles includes Contessa in Le Nozze di Figaro, Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni, Ilia in Idomeneo and the title roles in Rossi’s Orfeo and Lemoyne’s Phèdre.

Other main roles also stand out, such as Ariane et Bacchus (Marin Marais) with Le Concert Spirituel at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Swanhilde in César Francks Hulda with the Orchestre Philharmonique Royal de Liège, and a revival of Die Zauberflöte at Theater Basel, in which Van Wanroij sings Erste Dame.

Recent highlights include Zirphile in Rameau’s Archante et Céphise under the baton of Alexis Kossenko, Léna in La princesse jaune with the l’Orchestre du Capitole de Toulouse and Ilia (Idomeneo), with Les Talens Lyriques at the Mozartfest Würzburg, and various recording projects: Les Fêtes d’Hébé with Orfeo Orchestra in Budapest and Demarest’s Didon with Le Concert Spirituel, followed by a concert performance at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées.

In previous seasons, she received critical acclaim for her performances in the title role of Lemoyne’s Phèdre with the Orfeo Orchestra, released on CD by Palazzetto Bru Zane. The press went wild as Judith “leaves aside the ‘nice girls’ to whom the beauty of her timbre seems destined, she knows how to chisel her text in the tragic language, translating the heroine’s suffering into her body.” In 2018, she had another major recording success in the title role of Alceste by Lully with Christophe Rousset and Les Talens Lyriques, produced by Maximilien Ciup for the label Aparté. The disc was nominated for a Grammy Award in the Best Opera Recording category.

As a singer with a broad concert repertoire, Judith van Wanroij is in high demand as a soloist, having recently performed Bach’s oratorios with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, with the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Orquestra Simfònica de les Illes Balears at the Auditorium de Palma de Mallorca with Jonathan Cohen, among others. Last season, she toured with the Camerata of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in Spain, performing lieder by Mahler and Berg, having previously sung Strauss Vier letzte Lieder with the ensemble.

Her ever-expanding discography includes many lesser-known operas, such as Monteclair’s Jephté with the Orfeo Orchestra and Purcell Choir for the label Glossa, Salieri’s Tarare, Les Horaces and Les Danaïdes, all with Les Talens Lyriques for Aparté, Gounod’s Le Tribut de Zamora with the Münchner Rundfunkorchester for Palazzetto Bru Zane. She also recorded Gounod’s Cantatas and Sacred music with the Brussels Philharmonic and Flemish Radio Choir for Palazzetto Bru Zane, and Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 with the Camerata RCO for Gutman Records.