Marina REBEKA, soprano

Mathieu PORDOY, piano

«Mercè, dilette amiche» (I Vespri Siciliani. Cinquè acte)

G. Verdi (1813 – 1901)

«Tu che le vanità» (Don Carlo. Cinquè acte)

G. Verdi

«Vision d’Athanael» (Thaïs. Primer acte)

«Duo et Mèditation» (Thaïs. Segon acte)  Arranj. per a piano

J. Massenet (1842 – 1912)

Piano solo

«Pleurez, pleurez, mes yeaux» (Le Cid. Tercer acte)

J. Massenet

«L’amour est un oiseau rebelle» (Carmen. Primer acte)

G. Bizet (1838 – 1875)

Preludi (Madame Butterfly. Tercer acte)

G. Puccini (1858 – 1924)

Piano solo

«Un bel dì vedremo» (Madama Butterfly. Segon acte)

G. Puccini

(Pausa)

«Ecco respiro appena» (Adriana Lecouvreur. Primer acte)

F. Cilea (1866 – 1950)

«Quando m’en vo» (La Bohème. Segon acte)

G. Puccini

Les estacions, op. 37a «Desembre – Nadal»

P. I. Txaikovski (1840 – 1893)

Piano solo

«Puskay pogibnu ya, no prezhde»

(Eugene Onegin. Primer acte. Escena carta de Tatiana)

P. I. Txaikovski

Intermezzo (Manon Lescaut)

G. Puccini

Piano solo

«In quelle trine morbide» (Manon Lescaut. Segon acte)

G. Puccini

«Pace, pace mio Dio!» (La forza del destino. Quart acte)

G. Verdi

Marina REBEKA, Soprano

Latvian soprano Marina Rebeka is one of the leading opera singers of our time.

Since her international breakthrough at the Salzburg Festival in 2009 under the baton of Riccardo Muti, Rebeka has been a regular guest at the world’s most prestigious concert halls and opera houses, including the Teatro alla Scala (Milan), the Opéra National de Paris, the Metropolitan Opera (New York), the Royal Opera House Covent Garden (London), the Bavarian State Opera (Munich), the Vienna State Opera, and the Zurich Opera House.

She collaborates with leading conductors, including Riccardo Muti, Zubin Mehta, Antonio Pappano, Valery Gergiev, Fabio Luisi, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, and Daniele Gatti. The variety of her repertoire ranges from Baroque, through bel canto and Verdi, to Tchaikovsky and Britten.

As an active and widely acclaimed concert performer, Rebeka has given recitals at many of the world’s most prestigious venues, such as the Teatro alla Scala in Milan, the Großes Festspielhaus in Salzburg, the Opernhaus Zürich, and others.

Rebeka’s discography includes releases with Deutsche Grammophon, Warner Classics (EMI), BR Klassik, and Naxos. She has recorded Rossini’s Petite Messe Solennelle, Mozart’s arias, Amor Fatale (an album of Rossini’s arias), Verdi’s full opera Luisa Miller, and Mozart’s La Clemenza di Tito. On her own record label, Prima Classic, she has released the album Spirito (scenes and arias of the dramatic bel canto), Verdi’s opera La Traviata, and her solo albums Elle (French opera arias) and Credo (a selection of sacred and spiritual music). Rebeka also sang the role of Imogene in the recording of Bellini’s Il Pirata, an album released by Prima Classic that received the 2022 International Classical Music Award (ICMA) for opera recording of the year. Also in 2022, she released her first piano recital album, Voyage.

In December 2016, Rebeka was granted the Order of the Three Stars, the highest award of the Republic of Latvia, for her cultural achievements. In the 2017/18 season, she was named the first-ever artist in residence by the Münchner Rundfunkorchester. In 2020, she received the International Classical Music Award (ICMA) for artist of the year and the Latvian Ministry of Culture Award for Excellence. In 2021, she was awarded the first-ever Premio alla Carriera “Toti dal Monte”.

PROGRAM NOTES

WOMEN IN ROMANTICISM
Marta Bauzà Soler, Soprano and cultural manager

Halfway through this mythical festival of summer nights in Pollença and Mallorca’s 62nd edition, we hold a magnificent singing and piano recital featuring a programme full of 19th-century music references. Indeed, at that time, a large amount of music was composed, especially operas, representing a significant shift compared to previous periods.

If, during the Baroque (1600 – 1750), the composed music – as well as the opera, intends to astonish the audience with great fleetness, theatricality and harsh hallmarks, and during the Classicism (1750 – 1810) the main goal is the audience’s delight with better-balanced music, during Romanticism (1810 – 1900) a total shift is produced, adjusting to the new philosophical outlook and creating a new connection between culture and music.

During Romanticism, the opera enjoyed substantial headway, to the extent that it became the bourgeoisie’s favourite entertainment. The bourgeoisie fills the theatres not only in Italy but throughout Europe, where new theatres are being built. There is also a widespread interest in going to the opera, listening to and following their favourite singers, and for the first time in history, an evolution in how the audience perceives musicians is noted. Thus begins a stage in which music is seen as an independent art with excellent expressive competencies, and therefore, the Romanticism musicians are recognized as virtuous keepers of the ability to connect the crowds with a more spiritual world through their pieces.

There are different periods within the romantic opera, two of which should be highlighted, pledging a better understanding of this evening’s programme. On the one hand, the fullness of significant opera figures such as G. Verdi or R. Wagner—composers who knew how to perfectly integrate each aria, recitative and chorus of their operas with no consequent need to separate the different parts, and Wagner introduced the famous leitmotiv, which is nothing more than using the same melody every time a character or topic shows up. On the other hand, there is verismo, a trend that appears at the end of the century under the influence of the realism literary trend. In this type of piece, the truth always prevails with a tragic ending. We find G. Puccini or G. Bizet among the most outstanding composers.

If, during Romanticism, the opera evolves and enjoys a privileged status, the piano obtains a paramount significance, especially in the time’s musical creation. With extensive technical advances and increasingly widespread manufacture, the piano became the hip instrument. It is the perfect instrument sought by Romanticism authors and essential to musical creation development. One cannot fail to mention F. Chopin or F. Liszt as this instrument’s great representatives. From the 19th century to date, almost all composers have composed piano pieces, and adaptations of countless operas and concertos have been made.

This evening, the Latvian soprano Marina Rebeka and the French pianist Mathieu Pordoy give us an overview of Romanticism’s most fascinating and prodigious operas, with Italian, French and Russian Romanticism examples. Among the performed arias, we will be able to indulge ourselves with «L’amour est un oiseau rébelle, » the well-known «Habanera» by Bizet – where Carmen speaks of the unruly nature of love, or «Quando me’n vo» by Puccini – where Musetta sings a waltz to get her lover’s attention. In both cases, they are strong women who call the tune, pun intended. And we will also listen to Puccini’s Manon Lescaut in «In quelle trine morbide, » regretful for having been seduced by Geronte’s money and not following her heart’s dictates. In addition, we will be able to listen to preludes or intermezzos solo piano arrangements from Madame Butterfly and Manon Lescaut by G. Puccini operas.

Regrets, hopes, misfortunes or prayers – all fit into the romantic repertoire, as do many other emotions. This evening, through this perfect programme, we will be delighted by sublime music belonging to a very flourishing period for vocal music.

Organitza i patrocina

Amb el suport de

Col·laboren

Mitjà de comunicació oficial

Membre de l’Associació espanyola de Festivals de Música Clàssica

Mitja de comunicació col·laborador

Oficina del Festival de Pollença

Convent de Sant Domingo

C/. de Pere J. Cànaves Salas, s/n

info@festivalpollenca.com

T.(+34) 971 899 323

Horari oficina

De dimarts a dissabte de 10.00 a 13.30h

Dijous de 16.30 a 19.00

Per a reservar i comprar entrades el mateix dia del concert, de 20.30 a 22.00h