Montréal Baroque 2025 | Zarzuela, my love

This was my very first concert in the atrium of Les Grands Ballets canadiens. As I settled in, a doubt assailed me: concrete, a brick wall, what kind of acoustics would result? Well, like an exhilarating little miracle, the result was thrilling. Perfect acoustics for low-resonance instruments such as a harpsichord and gut strings, but above all for voices, in this case a superb duo of soprano and mezzo.

The Spanish ensemble Harmonia del Parnàs, reduced in size to two Baroque violins and cello, and a harpsichord, offered a program devoted to the early lyric art of the Iberian peninsula. On the menu, then, were excerpts from zarzuelas (Spanish operettas), operas and cantatas by composers as little-known as Castro, Corradini, Duron, de Nebra, Hernández y Llana and Castel, but so commendable for their mastery of catchy melodies and lively rhythms. Nothing to envy from Vivaldi, Corelli or Handel, these gentlemen!

It would have been a pleasant moment even with a decent set of music. But fortunately, it was much more than that. A lesson in precision, participatory energy and tonal quality was offered by the Spaniards (and Argentinians, we were told), who supported outstanding vocal performances by soprano Ruth Rosique and mezzo Marta Infante. These two were clearly relishing this repertoire, at times sparkling, at others steeped in poignant melancholy. Committed, even truculent embodiments of the characters evoked (jealous wife, grieving lover, etc.) completed an experience that will remain imprinted in the memory of the spectators present.

We can only hope that these singers and this instrumental ensemble will return someday very soon.

Ruth Rosique, soprano

Marta Infante, mezzo-soprano

Hiro Kurosaki and Lucía Luque, Baroque violins

Hermann Schreiner, Baroque cello

Marian Rosa Montagut, harpsichord and direction