The Early Music Festival of the Pyrenees reaches the equator with a concert by the Baroque Orchestra of Seville (OBS)
The OBS performs a repertoire of Italian Baroque music. The concert was held at Santa Maria’s Cathedral, in La Seu d’Urgell, in the Western Catalan Pyrenees, next to Andorra.
La Seu d'Urgell (ACN) .- One of the most important Spanish groups in the interpretation of early Baroque music, the Baroque Orchestra of Seville (OBS) offered the equator concert of the recently released Early Music Festival of the Pyrenees (FEMAP) with a concert in La Seu d’Urgell, in Western Catalan Pyrenees, next to Andorra. The OBS has offered the public a large repertoire of Italian Baroque music entitled 'A Feast of Italian Baroque’. The concert was to be held at the cloister of Santa Maria’s Cathedral but it was finally held in the chapel of Saint Dominic because of a problem with the tuning of one instrument. The festival director, Miquel Colom, was pleased by the public participation in the festival.
The large audience made up of more than 300 people, enjoyed more than two hours of music performed by eight violins, two violas, two cellos, a bass and a harpsichord. On Thursday, under the direction of Enrico Onofri, violin soloist, and with the participation of Molly Nash, an oboe soloist, the Baroque Orchestra of Seville offered music a program of Vivaldi, Albinioni, Gemianiani, Albinoni, Legrenzi and Castello as part of the Early Music Festival of the Pyrenees (FEMAP). Colom stated that the concert of the OBS is "one of the most important performances of the festival because it is one of the reference groups in Spain and Europe."
The FEMAP was initiated three years ago following the union of various institutions. Not only do Catalan companies participate but groups from all over Spain come to take part. It has the goal of becoming a leader in Southern Europe, matching renowned festivals such as the Utrecht festival in Holland or the Innsbruck festival in Austria. The festival director claims that FEMAP will become more established over time and that “current ratings are important to three or four years from now” he added “but so far we are very pleased by the audience here." Colom also highlighted the last concert of the festival as "a self-produced music concert which attempts to recover the style of chapel master of the Cathedral of La Seu d’Urgell, Joan Araniés." The festival will end on the weekend of the 9th and 10th of September with a concert in La Seu d'Urgell and Valencia Àneu.