Baroque concert featuring Durante and Zelenka

The Resonances Suresnes Choir invites you to the Church Le-Coeur-Immaculé-de-Marie in Suresnes on May 28, 2023 at 4:30 p.m. for a new program:

• The vocal ensemble will perform the Litany of the Virgin and the Magnificat by the Italian composer Francesco Durante (1684-1755),

• The mixed choir, together with the Hackney Festival Chorus, will perform the Missa Votiva by the Czech composer Jan Dismas Zelenka (1679-1745).

Francesco Durante primarily composed religious music, though he is considered one of the founders - along with Scarlatti, Porpora, Pergolesi, and others - of the "Neapolitan school" that marked the history of opera. In his music, Durante used counterpoint with elegance, mastery, and ease; melodic aspect remains essential. He was also recognized as an excellent pedagogue.

Jan Dismas Zelenka was born near Prague and was recruited at the age of 30 as a musician for the Catholic court of Dresden, where Frederick Augustus I reigned. He aimed to make his capital a "Florence on the Elbe" and brought in many talents of the time. A prolific composer of religious music, Zelenka wrote works with bold structure, spiritual harmonic invention, complex counterpoint, and rapid, fiery orchestration. The Missa Votiva is a thanksgiving mass. Zelenka fell ill and promised to write a work once he recovered. His gratitude is expressed in the sixth movement "Gratias Agimus tibi".

This concert is a very special event for the Resonances Suresnes Choir and the St. John of Jerusalem Festival Chorus of Hackney, a city in the Greater London twinned with Suresnes for over 60 years.

In 2018 and 2020, the two groups were able to join voices and sing together. Unfortunately, the global pandemic did not allow for a continuation of this experience.

The choirs will be accompanied by the Académie Symphonique de Paris Orchestra and four soloists: Ombeline Ségot-Schrimpf (soprano), Stéphanie Boré-Colonna (mezzo-soprano), Seong Young Moon (tenor), and Jiwon Song (bass baritone).

Prices

In advance: €20, full price: €25.

Reduced price: €10, free for children under 12.

Reservations at 06 25 25 32 97.