Freddie De Tommaso has closed the first Easter edition of the Castell de Peralada Festival which was held from April 6 to 8. The proposal, which aims deseasonalize the contest, has included a recital of opera arias and songs prepared for the occasion. The tenor, who performed this Saturday afternoon at the Carmen del castell church accompanied by the pianist and director Audrey Saint Gil, will return to this stage on July 28 to inaugurate the summer edition of the festival. The organization values very positively the response to this new cultural proposal by the public with three plenary sessions, 95% occupancy and one 30% international viewers.
In addition to Freddie De Tommaso, the countertenor also debuted during this edition Jacob Jozef Olrinski amb Il Giardino D’Amore, the soprano Barcelona Serena Saenz who debuted in the role of ‘Giuditta’ in Alessandro Scarlatti’s oratorio, and the polyphonic Cantoría formation. An edition that has also counted on the loyalty of the countertenor Xavier Sabata, Dani Espasa and Vespres d’Arnadí.
Freddie DeTommaso
The Castell de Peralada Festival is a festival of voices with a certain weakness for the tenor voice Therefore, it is not surprising that, in this successful and just inaugurated Easter edition, the festival wanted to present one of the most acclaimed tenors of today, possessor of a lyrical-spinto tenor voice of great projection.
The young tenor of 30 yearsan exclusive Decca Classics artist and the first tenor to sign with this label since Jonas Kaufmman, gained prominence by winning the First Prize, the Plácido Domingo Prize for Best Tenor and the Verdi Prize at the Vinyes International Tenor Singing Competition in 2018. In December 2021, he returned to highlight when it goes play Cavaradossi in the Royal Opera’s production of Tosca and thus became the youngest tenor ever to play the role on such an iconic stage and the first Briton since 1963. De Tommaso, who had to play the role at the last minute, when the tenor from original program felt indisposed during the first of the three acts, led the press to declare unanimously that this was the birth of a great career.
The program, prepared for the occasion, he has combined well-known pages of sacred repertoire for tenor, romances, Neapolitans and opera arias. With a splendid voice and talent in the wake of the best Italian tenor voices, the evening began with ‘Ave Maria’ by Charles Gounod and Johan Sebastian Bach. After the first welcome applause, the artist gave way to the piece ‘Ingemisco’ from Verdi’s Requiem. After this start of the first part, the artist sang Cèsar Franck’s ‘Panis angelicus’, a fragment of the Sacris Solemniis, a Catholic hymn written by Saint Thomas Aquinas for the feast of Corpus Christie il’ ‘Ave Maria’ by Schubert. The first part continued with Thaïs’ ‘Meditation’ performed by Audrey Saint-Giles. The tenor has returned to the stage to perform ‘Pietà, signore’ by Rafaele’ Mongardo followed by ‘Non t’accostare all’urna’, by Verdi to end the first part with ‘È la solita Storia’ (Lamento di Federico) of Francesco Cilea’s Alresiana.
After a fifteen-minute break, the second part of the concert began with Puccini: ‘Sun and love’ one of the young Puccini’s romances published in 1888 dedicated to Paolo Tosti and ‘Che gelida manina’ from La bohème. With De Tommaso absent on stage, Saint-Giles performed ‘Ent’acte’ by Bizet’s Carmen. Neapolitan song lit up the rest of the program with gems like Stanislao Gastaldon’s ‘Musica prohibida’, Eduardo di Capua’s ‘I te vurria vasa’, Tosti’s ‘Non t’amp più’ and Tosti’s ‘Fenesta che lucive’, by Bellini published in 1842 by the Neapolitan song editor Guglielmo Cottraud.
The public has awarded the two artists with loud applause to express gratitude for having had two artists of such a high level who have given Peralada a unique recital. Applause that was rewarded with ‘O sole mio’ by Alfredo Mazzucchi and Eduardo di Capua, reaching the end of the evening with the Neapolitan song ‘Core’ngrato’.
Freddie De Tommaso and Audrey Saint-Giles will be responsible for opening the summer edition of the 37th edition of the Peralada Castle Festival with a new recital at the Carmel church on the afternoon of July 28.
95% occupancy
The director of the Castell de Peralada Festival, Oriol Aguilà, states that this new proposal “it is born to stay and has fulfilled the objectives”. The intention was to make itself known among the music lovers who already frequent the Costa Brava, but also to position the brand in theinternational scope. In addition, he highlighted “the excellence of the artistic proposals that have been presented and the high degree of satisfaction of the public”, which encourage them to start working on the following Easter editions.
And it is that, after three days and four shows held in the Carmel church, the Castell de Peralada festival closes its Easter edition with 95% occupancy and 30% international audience. In a few weeks, the Castell de Peralada Festival will announce the program of its summer edition.