VESPRES D'ARNADÍ baroque orchestra
Vespres d'Arnadí is an ensemble specialized in the performance of Baroque music played with period musical instruments created in 2005 under the direction of Dani Espasa and Pere Saragossa. The aim of Vespres is to offer versions full of emotion, freshness and spontaneity using, in addition to their own criteria, different resources bequeathed in treatises, chronicles and other historical sources.
Its name recalls the concerts in the eighteenth century that were usually offered in the evenings (Vespres in Catalan language) as a 'dessert' for the distinguished dinners in the homes of nobles and bourgeois families. Pumpkin, sugar and almonds are the ingredients of Arnadí, one of the oldest desserts in Valencia.
With an intense concert activity, the group performs in important venues and festivals in Europe such as Peralada, Barcelona, Seville, Santander, Santiago de Compostela, Lugo, Madrid, Halle, Prague, Ostrava and Madeira, among others.
Vespres d'Arnadí records 'Pièces de Simphonie de Charles Desmazures', 'Missa en D Major de Josep Mir i Llussà' and 'Anna Maria Strada, la favorita de Haendel' with the soprano María Espada, all of them under the Musièpoca label. The latest of his recordings is entitled 'L'Alessandro amante', starring the countertenor Xavier Sabata and released on the Aparté label.
In addition to the aforementioned singers, the orchestra collaborates with prestigious soloists, such as the mezzo-sopranos Vivica Genaux and Mary Ellen Nesi, the sopranos Núria Rial, Sunhae Im and Marie Lys, the altos Hilary Summers and Sonia Prina, and the tenors Emiliano González Toro and Juan Sancho, to name but a few.
Its most recent engagements include the performance of Bach's Brandenburg Concertos at Palau de la Música Catalana in Barcelona, and Handel's opera Amadigi di Gaula with Sabata at Auditorio Nacional de Música in Madrid and L'Auditori in Barcelona.
The orchestra will soon perform the recital 'Ecos barrocos' with the soprano María Bayo at Baluarte in Pamplona and Pergolesi's Stabat Mater at Palau de la Música Catalana in Barcelona.
The orchestra gets helps from the Department of Culture of the Government of Catalonia and the Institut Ramon Llull for their concerts abroad.
DANI ESPASA, conductor and harpsichordist
Undoubtedly one of the most versatile musicians in early music today. Born in La Canonja (Tarragona), he studied piano at the Conservatories of Tarragona and Barcelona, and architecture at the UPC in Barcelona. He works as a composer, pianist and musical director for dance, television, cinema and, above all, theatre, collaborating with directors such as Lluís Pasqual, Calixto Bieito, Josep Maria Flotats, Joan Ollé, Sergi Belbel and Jordi Prat i Coll.
As well as producer and composer of several albums by the singer Lídia Pujol, he is also musical director, pianist and accordionist for the singer Maria del Mar Bonet.
He conducts the Orquestra Simfònica de Barcelona i Nacional de Catalunya (OBC), the Orquestra del Gran Teatre del Liceu, the Orquestra Nacional d'Andorra (ONCA) and the contemporary music ensemble Bcn216, and premieres and records piano pieces by the composers Joan Albert Amargós and Enric Granados. Since 2003 he has been a collaborating pianist and harpsichordist with the OBC, with whom he has recorded as a soloist for the Naxos, Harmonia Mundi and BIS records labels.
After completing his harpsichord and basso continuo studies with Béatrice Martin at the Escola Superior de Música de Catalunya (ESMUC), Dani Espasa begins an intense activity in baroque, renaissance and medieval music groups, collaborating with Hespèrion XXI, Le Concert des Nations, L'Arpeggiata, Mala Punica, The Rare Fruits Council, La Hispanoflamenca, Les sacqueboutiers de Toulouse, MUSIca ALcheMIca and La Caravaggia. He performs at prestigious music festivals and concert halls in Europe, America and Asia.
He participates in more than 40 recordings for labels such as Aparté, Alia Vox, Erato, Passacaille and Pan Classics.
He is currently professor of Improvisation and Chamber Music at the ESMUC, professor of harpsichord and basso continuo in the Historical Performance Programme at the Escuela Superior de Música Reina Sofía in Madrid and artistic director of the concert series at the Monestir de Pedralbes (Barcelona).
PERE SARAGOSSA, oboist
He begins his musical studies at the Ateneu Musical in his hometown, La Vila Joiosa (Alicante), continuing at the conservatories of Alicante, Valencia and Barcelona where he obtains the superior oboe degree. At the age of 21 he wins a place in the Orquestra Simfònica del Vallès, where he worked for nine years.
After this period he starts studying baroque oboe, and in 2005 he obtains a degree in Early Music Performance specialising in historical oboes under the guidance of Alfredo Bernardini at the Escola Superior de Música de Catalunya (ESMUC).
In 2006 he creates Musièpoca, a concert agency specialising in early music, which becomes a record label in 2009. In 2014 he creates the Renaissance group Lucentum XVI.
Pere Saragossa is invited by prestigious international baroque orchestras such as the Accademia Bizantina, Zefiro Ensemble, Balthasar Newmann Ensemble, Europa Galante, Helsinki Baroque Orchestra, Ensemble Matheus, Stockholm Barokorkester, Le Concert des Nations and Austrian Baroque Company.
He records discs with different orchestras, including Antonio Vivaldi's 'Tito Manlio', 'Händel: Organ Concertos, op. 4' with the Accademia Bizantina and Ottavio Dantone, and the CD of the Lucentum XVI group "Cantoral del Monestir de Sta. M. de la Murta d'Alzira", as well as the discs of Vespres d'Arnadí.
Since February 2016 he teaches historical oboes at the Conservatorio Superior de Música Salvador Seguí in Castelló.
Website Vespres d'Arnadí
Its name recalls the concerts in the eighteenth century that were usually offered in the evenings (Vespres in Catalan language) as a 'dessert' for the distinguished dinners in the homes of nobles and bourgeois families. Pumpkin, sugar and almonds are the ingredients of Arnadí, one of the oldest desserts in Valencia.
With an intense concert activity, the group performs in important venues and festivals in Europe such as Peralada, Barcelona, Seville, Santander, Santiago de Compostela, Lugo, Madrid, Halle, Prague, Ostrava and Madeira, among others.
Vespres d'Arnadí records 'Pièces de Simphonie de Charles Desmazures', 'Missa en D Major de Josep Mir i Llussà' and 'Anna Maria Strada, la favorita de Haendel' with the soprano María Espada, all of them under the Musièpoca label. The latest of his recordings is entitled 'L'Alessandro amante', starring the countertenor Xavier Sabata and released on the Aparté label.
In addition to the aforementioned singers, the orchestra collaborates with prestigious soloists, such as the mezzo-sopranos Vivica Genaux and Mary Ellen Nesi, the sopranos Núria Rial, Sunhae Im and Marie Lys, the altos Hilary Summers and Sonia Prina, and the tenors Emiliano González Toro and Juan Sancho, to name but a few.
Its most recent engagements include the performance of Bach's Brandenburg Concertos at Palau de la Música Catalana in Barcelona, and Handel's opera Amadigi di Gaula with Sabata at Auditorio Nacional de Música in Madrid and L'Auditori in Barcelona.
The orchestra will soon perform the recital 'Ecos barrocos' with the soprano María Bayo at Baluarte in Pamplona and Pergolesi's Stabat Mater at Palau de la Música Catalana in Barcelona.
The orchestra gets helps from the Department of Culture of the Government of Catalonia and the Institut Ramon Llull for their concerts abroad.
DANI ESPASA, conductor and harpsichordist
Undoubtedly one of the most versatile musicians in early music today. Born in La Canonja (Tarragona), he studied piano at the Conservatories of Tarragona and Barcelona, and architecture at the UPC in Barcelona. He works as a composer, pianist and musical director for dance, television, cinema and, above all, theatre, collaborating with directors such as Lluís Pasqual, Calixto Bieito, Josep Maria Flotats, Joan Ollé, Sergi Belbel and Jordi Prat i Coll.
As well as producer and composer of several albums by the singer Lídia Pujol, he is also musical director, pianist and accordionist for the singer Maria del Mar Bonet.
He conducts the Orquestra Simfònica de Barcelona i Nacional de Catalunya (OBC), the Orquestra del Gran Teatre del Liceu, the Orquestra Nacional d'Andorra (ONCA) and the contemporary music ensemble Bcn216, and premieres and records piano pieces by the composers Joan Albert Amargós and Enric Granados. Since 2003 he has been a collaborating pianist and harpsichordist with the OBC, with whom he has recorded as a soloist for the Naxos, Harmonia Mundi and BIS records labels.
After completing his harpsichord and basso continuo studies with Béatrice Martin at the Escola Superior de Música de Catalunya (ESMUC), Dani Espasa begins an intense activity in baroque, renaissance and medieval music groups, collaborating with Hespèrion XXI, Le Concert des Nations, L'Arpeggiata, Mala Punica, The Rare Fruits Council, La Hispanoflamenca, Les sacqueboutiers de Toulouse, MUSIca ALcheMIca and La Caravaggia. He performs at prestigious music festivals and concert halls in Europe, America and Asia.
He participates in more than 40 recordings for labels such as Aparté, Alia Vox, Erato, Passacaille and Pan Classics.
He is currently professor of Improvisation and Chamber Music at the ESMUC, professor of harpsichord and basso continuo in the Historical Performance Programme at the Escuela Superior de Música Reina Sofía in Madrid and artistic director of the concert series at the Monestir de Pedralbes (Barcelona).
PERE SARAGOSSA, oboist
He begins his musical studies at the Ateneu Musical in his hometown, La Vila Joiosa (Alicante), continuing at the conservatories of Alicante, Valencia and Barcelona where he obtains the superior oboe degree. At the age of 21 he wins a place in the Orquestra Simfònica del Vallès, where he worked for nine years.
After this period he starts studying baroque oboe, and in 2005 he obtains a degree in Early Music Performance specialising in historical oboes under the guidance of Alfredo Bernardini at the Escola Superior de Música de Catalunya (ESMUC).
In 2006 he creates Musièpoca, a concert agency specialising in early music, which becomes a record label in 2009. In 2014 he creates the Renaissance group Lucentum XVI.
Pere Saragossa is invited by prestigious international baroque orchestras such as the Accademia Bizantina, Zefiro Ensemble, Balthasar Newmann Ensemble, Europa Galante, Helsinki Baroque Orchestra, Ensemble Matheus, Stockholm Barokorkester, Le Concert des Nations and Austrian Baroque Company.
He records discs with different orchestras, including Antonio Vivaldi's 'Tito Manlio', 'Händel: Organ Concertos, op. 4' with the Accademia Bizantina and Ottavio Dantone, and the CD of the Lucentum XVI group "Cantoral del Monestir de Sta. M. de la Murta d'Alzira", as well as the discs of Vespres d'Arnadí.
Since February 2016 he teaches historical oboes at the Conservatorio Superior de Música Salvador Seguí in Castelló.
Website Vespres d'Arnadí