Eva Ahimsa

In the seventeenth century, the Ospedale della Pietà in Venice took in young orphan girls who received advanced musical instruction. The concerts given there attracted visitors from all over the world, curious to hear these divine voices which remained invisible, since the girls performed hidden behind the grilles of the chapel gallery. Vivaldi became Maestro de’ Concerti of the Pietà in 1714, and it was his pupils who performed his famous Nisi Dominus. Today they are succeeded by the mezzo-soprano Eva Zaïcik, who brings out the full poignancy of the aria ‘Cum dederit’. Another motet by Vivaldi, Invicti bellate, also composed for the Pietà, features in this programme planned and conducted by Vincent Dumestre. He invites us on a musical journey centred on the figure of woman and on divine praise, with composers awaiting discovery such as Serafino Razzi (1534-1619) and Soto de Langa (1531-1611).

Pianist Ketil Bjornstad interprets poems by critically accliamed author Kjersti Annesdatter Skomsvold's collection "Litt trist matematikk" and performs them together with the vocalist Eva Bjerga Haugen. Transforming poetry and other writings into music is an important part of musician, composer and writer Ketil Bjornstad's work. Most well-known among his works are the interpretations of Harry Martinsson, Knut Hamsun, John Donne and Edvard Munch. Earlier this year he released the critically acclaimed album, "A Suite of Poems" with Anneli Drecker on ECM, where poems by Lars Saabye Christensen was the source of inspiration.

In 1906, Komitas gave a concert and lecture in Paris. Debussy came on stage after the concert and knelt before the Armenian composer (who was also a priest, a singer and a pioneer of ethnomusicology), exclaiming: ‘I bow before your genius, Reverend Father.’