When:
2008-08-15 - 2008-08-16
The first edition of the Cracovia Sacra Night is drawing near. During this special event, it will be possible to admire works of art as well as visit churches and see monastic treasures which are normally out of bounds to the general public. Visitors will learn about the everyday life of monks. The programme of this extraordinary night consists of many concerts, including the "Rosary Sonatas" by Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber. Two outstanding instrumentalists, John Holloway and Marieke Spaans, have been invited to perform the sonatas - musical pieces discovered only in 1905.
The sonatas were commissioned by the Archbishop of Salzburg, Maximillian Gandolph von Khuenburg. The composer lived in Central Europe at a time when the worship of the Virgin Mary was undergoing a revival after the Thirty-Years' War. By writing the cycle, he fully expressed his religious zeal. The sonatas, a relic of Baroque music, are dedicated to the fifteen mysteries of the Rosary. The entire cycle is summarized by the "Passacaglia of the Guardian Angel".
The artists invited to participate in the project are the leading performers of early music. For his interpretation of the "Rosary Sonatas", John Holloway received a Gramophone Award in 1991. He has played a crucial role in the revival of early music in Great Britain: he founded the L’École d’Orphée with whom he recorded a set of chamber music compositions by Handel. He belongs to a small group of artists working with the ECM label (for which he produced "Sonatae Unarum Fidium" by Johann Heinrich Schmelzer, as well as sonatas and partitas for solo violin by Johann Sebastian Bach).
Marieke Spaans is a specialist in highly emotional performances of 17th and 18th century music. She is a harpsichordist and pianist, as well as an expert in basso continuo. In addition, she is a lecturer in the German Staatliche Hochschule für Musik. She has received important awards at such concerts as the Flanders Festival in Bruges and the "Premio Bonporti" in Rovereto.
The cycle will start with a concert at 5pm in the Aula of Collegium Maius (Jagiellońska 15). The following parts will be held in historic buildings of the Old Town (8pm, 10.45pm). Free admission cards available from the City Information Network (św. Jana 2).
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