Highlights of the Bogotá is Baroque festival programme

It’s a long weekend in Colombia, and this means, there’s time on your hands for some Händel, Bach, and Vivaldi. With the fifth edition of the International Classical Music Festival set to swing open its doors to audiences, at The City Paper, we decided that now is a good time to give a breakdown of the international guest musicians who will be performing works by these three Baroque composers.

As tickets are moving fast and several concerts for the inauguration of the four-day Bogotá Es Barroco festival are sold out, here is a listing of some of the paid and free concerts, not to be missed, as well as leading protagonists.

We begin with French harpsichordist Pierre Hantaï, who since the age of 10 has been passionate with Bach’s music, and thanks to the influence of Gustav Leonhardt, began to learn how to play this ancient instrument by himself and was taken under the wing of the American professor Arthur Haas. Hantaï began to perform at an early age, both as a soloist and with brothers  Marc and Je?rome. Hentaï has an extensive discography and will perform his first recital on Saturday, November 13 (4:00 pm) at Teatro Mayor with works by Händel and Bach.

At Teatro Colón, on Monday, November 15 (5:00 pm), Hentaï will play works by the same two composers.

Born in Saint Petersburg, violinist Sergey Malov has played with many of the world’s most prestigious orchestras, including  BBC Symphony, London Philharmonic, Tokyo Philharmonic. His opening recital at the festival is on Saturday, November 13 (2:30 pm) at Teatro Mayor with Bach’s violin partitudes.

On Sunday, Malov performs at Teatro Colsubidio three suites by Bach. (11:00 am), and on Monday, more Suites by the same composer at Teatro Mayor (2:30 pm).

Julia Boucaut (France, 1986), took up the trumpet at the age of eight before mastering this instrument with honors as a graduate of the Bordeaux Conservatory. The musician went on to obtain a BA and a MA with honors in Historical Trumpet from the National Superior Conservatory of Music and Dance of Lyon (CNSMD). Since 2009 she has played in France, Europe, Israel and Colombia with musical ensembles specializing in ancient music. As an Adami scholar since 2014, Boucaut has taught the trumpet, horn and trombone to children as part of the L ‘orchester à l’ école de Paris program, a project inspired by the National System of Orchestras Youth and Children of Venezuela.

On Sunday, at Teatro Mayor (2:30 pm), Boucaut and ensemble Extempore will interpret works by the three Baroque composers, including an Aria from Händel’s Samson Oratorio.

From his days as a student at the Béla Bartók Music Conservatory, oboist Tamás Balla went on to win Hungary’s prestigious National Oboe Contest on three consecutive occasions and has performed as a soloist with the Haydn Orchestra of Bolzano and Trento, with the Essex Symphony and Salomon Orchestra. In Colombia, he has accompanied the Cali Philharmonic, Caldas Symphony, and National Symphonic Orchestra of Colombia. He currently is the principal oboist of the National Symphony Orchestra of Colombia.

Swiss violinist and music director Leila Schayegh is considered one of the leading exponents of the violin and a captivating performer given her expressiveness and musical energy. Her repertoire ranges from early violin works to the high romantic period. Schayegh has won multiple awards, among them the Diapason d’Or or Editor’s Choice of the English publication Gramophone.

Schayech will lead the Bogotá Baroque Ensemble on Saturday, November 13 (5:00 pm) as both conductor and violinist at Teatro Colón. The repertoire includes works by Bach and Händel. She will be accompanied by soprano Cornelia Horak (Austria); tenor Andre?s Silva (Colombia); and bass Jose? Coca Loza (Bolivia).

On Sunday, the critically-acclaimed violinist joins harpsichordist and founder of IL Convito, Maude Gratton, at Teatro Mayor (4:00 pm) with four Sonatas by Bach.

Gratton comes to the festival as a multi-facteted artist, performing as organist, harpischordist and music director. Born in France, in 1983, she graduated from the Conservatoire Superior de Paris, in 2003 and recipient of Second Place of the renowned organ competition MAfestival de Bruges. Her extensive discography covers solo and chamber music repertoires. In 2015, Gratton founded Il Convito as an ensemble that draws inspiration from art history and early music. She teaches at the Center for Early Music in Versailles and the Academy for Early Music in Vannes, France.

Gratton will direct IL Convito, on Friday, November 12 (6:30 pm) at Teatro Mayor with an innovative take on Bach’s Art of the Fugue (BMV 1080). She returns to the stage on Sunday (11:30 am) with a Tribute to Anna Magdalena Bach, accompanied by Austrian Soprano Cornelia Horak.

One of the highlights is the free concert on Saturday (3:00 pm) at Bogotá’s Primary Cathedral with Grattan at the historic organ built in 1891 and transported to the Colombian capital from Barcelona, Spain, through Barranquilla and up the Magdalena River.

Colombia’s Diego Salamanca began his musical training as a guitarist with Ramiro Isaza and Carlos Posada. He soon devoted himself fully to the lute and historical plucked-string instruments at the Universidad Javeriana in Bogotá. In 2002, he entered Lyon’s Conservatory for Higher Music and obtained the Higher Diploma in Musical Studies. He has performed primarily with the ensembles Correspondances and Pygmalion, as well as Le Banquet Céleste and Les Arts Florissants.

His first concert at the festival takes place on Saturday, November 13 (6:30 pm) at Teatro Mayor with a suite, partitude and prelude by Bach.

The lutist will give a free concert at the public library Virgilio Barco on Sunday (3:00 pm).

Argentine Sopranist Verónica Cangemi is internationally recognized as an icon of Baroque music. She is a regular guest at the most important opera houses and festivals such as the Vienna State Opera, Glyndebourne, Covent Garden, the Salzburg Festival and the Elisha Field Theater, to name a few. She has sung under the baton of Zubin Metha, Claudio Abbado, Elliot Gardiner, William Christie, Sir Neville Marriner and Marc Minkowski, among others. Her extensive discography for labels such as Harmonia Mundi, Virgin Classics, Naïve and Deutsche Grammophon.

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