THU. 16. NOVEMBER
CAPITOL HALL (Blvd. C.D. Loga 2)
19:30 Pre-Concert Talk GABRIEL BEBEȘELEA
20:00 Concert
ILLUMINATIOUS
"Amazing control and finely honed technique", this is how Valer Sabadus's singing was described in the famous British newspaper The Guardian. A true star of the Baroque era, appearing on the most important stages, Valer Sabadus will open Musica Ricercata Op.6 - Lux Timisiensis.
Alongside the Musica Ricercata Ensemble and conductor Gabriel Bebeșelea, he will perform arias from operas by Johann Adolph Hasse and Georg Friedrich Haendel, composed for the greatest countertenor of all time - Farinelli. Hasse and Haendel, even though they were born and educated in Germany, became famous in Italy and then in the United Kingdom, becoming true symbols of European excellence. As both German composers were deeply influenced by the Enlightenment, the entire concert will present an auditory exploration of the Age of Enlightenment. All the arias by Hasse and Haendel will be interspersed with orchestral works from across Europe, all representing the sound of the Enlightenment.
The first piece, composed in Salzburg by Heinrich Biber (born in the same year that the Ottoman inscription discovered in Liberty Square dates), audibly describes a battle with extraordinarily modern effects and highly descriptive imagery. This marks the beginning of our story, the entry of Timișoara into the Enlightenment, following the siege by Eugene of Savoy in 1716, just a few months before the birth of Empress Maria Theresa of Austria. The next orchestral work is composed by the great Jean-Philippe Rameau in collaboration with Voltaire, one of the most important Enlightenment figures, and it is dedicated to the celebration of the marriage between the French Dauphin and the Spanish Infanta Maria Teresa (different from the Empress of Austria), hence the title - La Princesse de Navarre. The following orchestral work, the overture of the opera "L'amant anonyme," is composed by one of the most important representatives of Enlightenment in music, Joseph Bologne Chevalier de Saint-Georges, nicknamed "Black Mozart" due to his partially African heritage, being born in the French colony of Guadeloupe. He was not only one of the most popular composers in Paris but also a champion fencer. The following orchestral work was born in a purely Enlightenment context. In St. Petersburg, Catherine the Great, who maintained intense correspondence with Voltaire, aimed to have a generation of composers trained in the Western European tradition, especially Italian, at her court. Thus, the Ukrainian composer Maksim Berezovski was sent to study in Italy, where he composed the Symphony in C major, strongly influenced by Vivaldi and Hasse, as well as by Giuseppe Sarti, whom Catherine brought to St. Petersburg to establish the famous conservatory. This symphony was considered lost until the year 2000 when conductor Stephen Fox discovered it in the Vatican Archives. Even though Berezovski disappeared at the young age of 31, he is considered the first great Ukrainian composer.
"Sinfonia nazionale nel gusto di cinque nazioni" composed by Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf, who served as the music director in Oradea for a decade (1764-1774), is a true "musical European Union," sonorously describing the character of five nationalities, following the Enlightenment model. Michael Haydn, the brother of the "father of the symphony" Joseph Haydn, succeeded Ditters in the service of Bishop Adam Patachich in Oradea, where he composed the entertainment performed in this concert. It is followed by another symphony composed in St. Petersburg by Giuseppe Sarti. He was one of the most popular Italian composers of the time, even cited by Mozart in Don Giovanni.
The circle is completed with another work about a battle, this time concerning the Siege of Belgrade that followed the Siege of Timișoara. In 1791, the year of Mozart's death, Stephen Storace composed a comic opera in London inspired by this siege. The full score was lost, but the overture was reconstructed by Gabriel Bebeșelea from surviving materials.
PROGRAMME
HEINRICH BIBER
Battalia à 10
JOHANN ADOLPH HASSE
“Or la nube procellosa” from Artaserse (added by Nicola Porpora for Farinelli)
JEAN-PHILIPPE RAMEAU / VOLTAIRE
Ouverture, Dance and Tambourin from the comédie-ballet La Princesse de Navarre
JOHANN ADOLPH HASSE
“Se al labbro mio non credi” from Artaserse (added by Riccardo Broschi for Farinelli)
JOSEPH BOLOGNE CHAVALIER DE SAINT GEORGES
Ouverture to the opera L’amant anonyme
JOHANN ADOLPH HASSE
„Quel candido armellino“ from Marc' Antonio e Cleopatra (composed for Farinelli)
MAKSIM BEREZOVSKI
Symphony in C Major
JOHANN ADOLPH HASSE
„Di quello ch‘io provo“ from Ruggiero
CARL DITTERS VON DITTERSDORF
Finale from Sinfonia nazionale nel gusto di cinque nazioni
GEORG FRIEDRICH HAENDEL
“Cara sposa” from Rinaldo
MICHAEL HAYDN
Allegro molto from Divertimento in B flat major Perger deest.
GEORG FRIEDRICH HAENDEL
“Venti turbini” from Rinaldo
GIUSEPPE SARTI
Sinfonia in D major
GEORG FRIEDRICH HAENDEL
“Mi lusinga” from Alcina
STEPHEN STORACE
Ouverture from The Siege of Belgrade
GEORG FRIEDRICH HAENDEL
“Sta nell’ircana” from Alcina
VALER SABADUS
Valer Sabadus gained international recognition in 2012 for his outstanding interpretation of the role of Semira in Leonardo Vinci's opera "Artaserse" (Directed by: Silviu Purcarete, Musical Direction: Diego Fasolis) at the opera houses in Nancy, Lausanne, and Cologne, as well as at the Theater an der Wien, Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Opéra Royal de Versailles, and the Concertgebouw Amsterdam.
Since that time, his international career has developed in various ways in the fields of concerts, lied and opera.
Long-standing partners in this regard include renowned early music ensembles such as La Cetra Barockorchester Basel, Concerto Köln, Freiburger Barockorchester, L’Arpeggiata, Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, Kammerorchester Basel, Venice Baroque Orchestra, Cappella Mediterranea, Accademia Bizantina, Il Pomo d’Oro, Les Talens Lyriques, Ensemble 1700, as well as Nuovo Aspetto and conductors like Leonardo García Alarcón, Ivor Bolton, Ottavio Dantone, Michael Hofstetter, Andrea Marcon, Alessandro de Marchi, Riccardo Minasi, and Christophe Rousset. Among his partners, you can find Dorothee Oberlinger, Christina Pluhar, Nuria Rial, Albrecht Mayer, Midori Seiler, Philippe Jaroussky, and Julia Lezhneva, to name a few.
His musical curiosity is extensive, as reflected in his genre-crossing, interdisciplinary, and intercultural projects - a hallmark of Valer Sabadus. Some of these programs include "Songs of Love" with the Syrian singer Dima Orsho and Musica Alta Ripa, a blend of music by Henry Purcell and composers from the Orient, or the program "Closer to Paradise" with the classical band SPARK, featuring longing sounds from Haendel to the iconic band Rammstein.
These projects are reflected in his discography, such as "Café – Orient meets Occident" (2012) and "Trialog - Music for the One God" with the Turkish Pera Ensemble (2013), "Alla Napoletana" with the ensemble L‘Arpeggiata (2021), or "Closer to Paradise" with the classical band SPARK (2022). They hold an important place alongside opera, concert, and solo literature in his extensive and diverse discography. His over 25 productions attest to the wide range of his artistic work, spanning from early Baroque works by Claudio Monteverdi and Francesco Cavalli to Italian sacred and operatic music of the 18th century, Sergei Rachmaninoff's Vocalise, and even expressionist and contemporary works like Enjott Schneider's Requiem "Im Namen der Rose" (2012).
In the field of opera recordings, notable mentions include "Vinci: Artaserse" with Concerto Köln, Diego Fasolis, Philippe Jaroussky, Max-Emanuel Cencic, Franco Fagioli, Yuriy Myenko (2012), "Hasse: Didone abbandonata" (2013), and "Vinci: Catone in Utica" (2015).
With albums such as "Hasse Reloaded" (2011), "Pergolesi: Stabat Mater" (2012), "To touch, to kiss, to die," featuring works by Henry Purcell, John Dowland, and others (2013), "Le belle immagini" with the Hofkapelle München (2014), "Caldara" with Nuovo Aspetto (2015), "Sacred Duets" with Nuria Rial and the Kammerorchester Basel (2017), "Händel goes wild" with L’Arpeggiata (2017), "Caro Gemello" – Farinelli and Metastasio with Concerto Köln (2018), and the most recent CD released by Sony Classical, "Arias–Bach/Telemann" with the Kammerorchester Basel (2021), Valer Sabadus has provided impressive evidence of his solo career development.
Valer Sabadus has received numerous awards for these recordings, including the Prize of the German Record Critics, ECHO Klassik, and the International Classic Music Award (ICMA) for Young Artist of the Year - Vocal in 2013.
In the field of opera, the production of Johann Adolph Hasse's "Didone abbandonata" was groundbreaking. He made his debut in 2009 at the age of 23 under the baton of Riccardo Muti at the Salzburg Whitsun Festival in the production of "Demofoonte" by Niccolò Jommelli. He was also featured at the Ravenna Festival and at the Opéra National de Paris. Since then, Valer Sabadus has enjoyed great success in various venues, including Schwetzingen, Frankfurt, Halle, Berlin, Dresden, Versailles, Aix-en-Provence, Vienna, Paris, Geneva, and Amsterdam.
In the 2023/24 season, Valer Sabadus will serve as "Artist in Residence" with the Thüringer Philharmonie, where he will perform Gluck's "Orpheus" among other works. In the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, he will be featured in Stefano Landi's "Il Sant'Alessio." In Timișoara, he will interpret arias by Hasse and Handel with Musica Ricercata. He will also perform once more in Trondheim with L'Arpeggiata and Christina Pluhar. As a guest of the Venice Baroque Orchestra, he will participate in the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival. Valer Sabadus will take his programs, such as "Songs of Love" with Dima Orsho and Musica Alta Ripa and "Closer to Paradise" with the classical band Spark, to various cities, including Duisburg, Kempen, Filderstadt, Viersen, Karlsruhe, Planegg, Wesel, Lünen, Borken, Carquefou, and Würzburg.
Valer Sabadus regularly presents lieder and aria recitals at renowned festivals, including the Handel Festivals in Karlsruhe and Halle, the Ludwigsburg Castle Festival, the Rheingau Music Festival, the Musikfest Bremen, the Dresden Music Festival, the Kissinger Sommer, the Lucerne Festival, the Festival de Musique Baroque d'Ambronay, the Froville Festival, the Utrecht Early Music Festival, the Schubertiade Hohenems and Schwarzenberg, the Styriarte Graz, as well as the Festwochen für Alte Musik in Innsbruck and the Grafenegg Festival. As a soloist, he has performed in prestigious venues such as the Berlin, Essen, and Cologne Philharmonies, the concert halls in Dortmund, Berlin, and Vienna, the Prinzregententheater in Munich, the Frauenkirche in Dresden, the Laeiszhalle in Hamburg, the Liederhalle in Stuttgart, the Chapelle Royale de Versailles, the Cité de la Musique in Paris, the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels, the KKL Luzern, l'Auditori in Barcelona, as well as the Philharmonies in Moscow and St. Petersburg.
Valer Sabadus began his vocal training at the age of 17 at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Munich under the guidance of Prof. Gabriele Fuchs and completed his education as a member of the Bayerische Theaterakademie August Everding in 2013 in the Master's program in Music Theatre with distinction.
%20schneiderphotography_9292.jpg)
(c) schneiderphotography
(c) Ionut Macri
GABRIEL
BEBEȘELEA
Gabriel Bebeşelea is Principal Conductor of the “George Enescu” Philharmonic Orchestra in Bucharest and Artistic Director of the period instrument ensemble and festival Musica Ricercata.
Bebeşelea enjoys a vibrant international career, being guest of acclaimed ensembles such as the Rundfunk- Sinfonieorchester Berlin, Konzerthausorchester Berlin, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, Orchestre Philharmonique de Marseille, Barcelona Symphony Orchestra, Orquesta Sinfónica de Castilla y León, the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, the National Philharmonic Orchestra of Russia, the Tonkunstler Orchestra, the PKF-Prague Philharmonia, etc.
Season 2023/24 kicked off with appearances at the "George Enescu" Festival alongside Musica Ricercata and Lawrence Brownlee, and saw him conduct performances of Arnold Schoenberg's monumental "Gurrelieder". This season he will return to the Bochumer Symphoniker, Ulster Orchestra, the Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra and the "Transylvania" State Philharmonic Orchestra, of which he was Principal Conductor between 2016 - 2023.
A remarkable opera conductor, Bebeşelea was named Principal Conductor of the Romanian National Opera of Iaşi in 2011, becoming the youngest ever Principal Conductor in Romania. In 2015 he was named Principal Conductor of the National Romanian Opera House of Cluj-Napoca.
In recent seasons, he has led performances of Rimsky-Korsakov's "The Tsar's Bride" at the Perm Opera, Rossini's "Il viaggio a Reims" at the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro, Francesco Cilea’s "Adriana Lecouvreur” at the National Opera House Timisoara (European Capital of Culture 2023) and a new production of “Manon Lescaut” at the Slovenian National Theater Maribor.
Gabriel Bebeșelea is known to devote himself to researching and rediscovering music and is responsible for uncovering several long forgotten or neglected musical masterpieces. In 2017, to bring such music to light, he founded the ensemble Musica Ricercata - an international artistic collective dedicated to the historically informed performance of music spanning from the baroque to modern eras, with an emphasis on early music.
With the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin, he recorded a CD featuring George Enescu’s rediscovered oratorio “Strigoii” (The Ghosts) and his “Pastorale - Fantaisie pour petite orchestre” (edition curated by Gabriel Bebeşelea).
In 2015, Gabriel Bebeşelea studied with two of the world’s most appreciated conductors: Bernard Haitink at the Lucerne Festival at Easter and with Kurt Masur at the Aurora Classical Festival. Bebeșelea was also mentored by Alberto Zedda at the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro.
In 2011 he was awarded a scholarship consisting of an internship at the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam, where he had the possibility to assist at rehearsals and concerts with Mariss Jansons, Bernard Haitink, Herbert Blomstedt, Christoph von Dohnanyi, Philippe Herreweghe, David Zinman and Eliahu Inbal.
Born in 1987, Gabriel Bebeşelea is winner of the 1st prize of the “Lovro von Matačić” Conducting Competition (Zagreb 2015) and the 1st prize in the “Jeunesses Musicales” Conducting Competition (Bucharest 2011).
In 2018, Gabriel Bebeşelea obtained his PhD with “summa cum laude” at the National University of Music Bucharest.
MUSICA
RICERCATA
Musica Ricercata is an international artistic collective conceived by Gabriel Bebeșelea who, from its inception, assured the artistic and technical direction of the ensemble, gathering the finest musicians from all over Europe and creating diverse and exciting musical programmes, spanning from the baroque to modern eras, with an emphasis on early music.
Characterised by an exceptionally bond between the conductor and his musicians, Musica Ricercata explores different sound worlds, using old instruments – woodwinds, baroque oboes, mast strings, theorbos – as well as modern instruments, depending on the program, and performing each repertoire in the appropriate way, from Jean-Baptiste Lully or Ludwig van Beethoven, to contemporary composers.
Gabriel Bebeșelea is known to devote himself to researching and rediscovering music and this is very noticeable in the proposed concert concepts, which explore some of history’s neglected musical masterpieces. In fact, the name of the ensemble means “Researched Music” and it was borrowed from György Ligeti’s set of eleven pieces for piano - Musica Ricercata - as a tribute to the Transylvanian-born composer.
Musica Ricercata performs in major concert halls and festivals such as MÜPA Budapest, the Romanian Athenaeum, the "George Enescu" International Festival, presenting creative programs alongside world-renowned artists.
Since 2019, Musica Ricercata has a close partnership with the European Union Youth Orchestra.
