FLANDERS FESTIVAL- ZOTTEGEM (BE)
Shakespeare program
Last Saturday, October 13 [2001], the church of Velzeke was literally and figuratively ablaze.
Burning, and full of passion, as their name suggests, the ensemble Sospiri Ardenti brought a tantalizing performance to the Flanders Festival. Two works of Shakespeare, The Tempest, and Twelfth Night, which have inspired numerous artists and composers throughout the centuries, formed the basis for this total-spectacle. Atmospheric instrumental music alternated with touching vocal and dramatic intermezzi.
Over a hundred listeners were witness to the expert craftmanship of this international ensemble onder the direction of Geert Van Gele, a musical jack-of-all-trades, who played the harpsichord and the recorder as if they were extensions of his own body. Mezzo-soprano Julie Comparini and soprano Ellen Delahanty performed highly moving arias to the lute-tones of colleague Daniel Swenberg for a rapt audience. The combination of these high singing tones and the architecture of the Romanesque church of Velzeke proved to be a great hit.
It was a gorgeous end for a sultry Saturday in October.
De Beiaard – Zottegem
