The concert of the European Union Baroque Orchestra with the participation of the NFM Girls’ Choir conducted by Enrico Onofri will be devoted entirely to the work of Antonio Vivaldi. We will hear five compositions by Il prete rosso, who spent thirty-five years as a teacher in the Ospedale della Pietà – an orphanage for girls. These works are related to the motherhood theme of the festival à rebours – they were once sung by orphaned children.

Vivaldi has gone down in history as a prolific composer of instrumental concertos. The programme of the European Union Baroque Orchestra includes two works of this type, both very short, written for strings and in the key of D minor. The concerto “Madrigalesco” RV 129 is reflective and serious in tone, which distinguishes it from the dynamic and light concerto RV 127. Yet the most interesting points of the programme will be sacred vocal-instrumental compositions. The Magnificat in G minor RV 611 is a work existing in several versions. The last one was created for the needs of the Ospedale della Pietà and was performed by its pupils. In this version, Vivaldi replaced some choral sections with solo ones, thanks to which the young singers could demonstrate their skills. It is a joyful, though not devoid of reflective shades, hymn of thanksgiving with text taken from the Gospel of St Luke. It is said by Our Lady during her meeting with Saint Elizabeth shortly after the Annunciation. The text of the short Beatus vir RV 598 comes from the Book of Psalms, specifically from Psalm 112. It is one of the wisdom psalms describing a life pleasing to God and the blessings experienced as a result of obeying divine laws.

The last piece of the concert will be the Gloria in D major RV 589, Vivaldi’s most popular sacred composition. The catchy nature of the music perfectly matches the text, which is a well-known fragment of the ordinarium missae. Vivaldi wrote the Magnificat and Gloria with a four-part choir in mind, but the Wratislavia Cantans concert will be performed without tenors and basses. The part of the lowest voice will be sung by children an octave higher, accompanied by instruments playing sounds written in the original range. The aim of the performers is to get closer to the sound that Vivaldi could achieve during his concerts at the Ospedale della Pietà.