Sunday, September 27th
Sermage Palace, 11:00 AM
Morning concert
RICERCAR CONSORT
Yetzabel Arias, soprano
Giovanna Pessi, harp
Daniel Zapico, theorbo and guitar
Philippe Pierlot, viola da gamba and artistic leadership
¡Ay que me río de Amor! /Ah, kako se smijem Amoru!
Juan Hidalgo
¡Ay que me río de Amor!
Sebastián Durón
Oye escucha/Yo no puedo, Aria grave
Anonymous
Españoleta
Sebastián Durón
Quantos temeis al rigor, Arieta ytaliana
Gaspar Sanz
Preludio, o Capricho arpeado por la Cruz
Sebastián Durón
Llorad, Tonada con viola
Diego Fernández de Huete
Gallardas
Antonio de Literes
En brazos de l'alba
Ojos
Sebastián Durón
Sosieguen, descansen
Gaspar Sanz
Pavanas con Partidas al Aire Español
Sebastián Durón
Si el susto, si el ansia
Martín y Coll/Philippe Pierlot
Danza del âcha
Sebastián Durón
Frondoso laurel
Sebastián Durón
Ay de mi santos cielos
Sebastián Durón
Baya pues rompuendo el ayre, Jacara solo muy airosa
(©Aline Blondiau)
Ricercar – to seek, to explore – has been the guiding principle of the Ricercar Consort since its foundation. The ensemble embarked on its first concert tour in 1985 with Bach’s Musical Offering, having already established an enviable international reputation through its recordings, particularly of German Baroque cantatas and instrumental music. Under the artistic direction of Philippe Pierlot, the ensemble explores the Baroque repertoire, from chamber music to opera and oratorio, captivating audiences with interpretations distinguished by their depth and precision. The ensemble has made numerous recordings for the Mirare label, including J. S. Bach’s Magnificat and St John Passion, Christmas cantatas, Italian music for viol consort and soprano, Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater, and Buxtehude’s Membra Jesu nostri. In collaboration with Collegium Vocale Gent and Bernard Foccroulle, it also recorded Bach cantatas, released on the album Soli Deo Gloria. More recent releases include Salvator Mundi (2023), devoted to Buxtehude’s cantatas, and Da Pacem (2024), featuring works by Heinrich Schütz and Johann Hermann Schein. The ensemble is supported by the Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles and Wallonie-Bruxelles International, which supports its international touring activities.
Philippe Pierlot was born in Liège. Self-taught on the guitar and lute, he later turned to the viola da gamba, which he studied with Wieland Kuijken. He is the artistic director of the Ricercar Consort and devotes much of his artistic work to seventeenth-century repertoire, introducing audiences to numerous lesser-known composers and works of outstanding artistic value. His repertoire also encompasses contemporary music, including several works dedicated to him. He is one of the few musicians to perform on the baryton, a little-known instrument for which Haydn composed nearly 150 works. Pierlot has devised a number of programmes and arrangements for the instrument, including a Schubertiade with Julian Prégardien and Beethoven’s Irish Songs with Maria Keohane. Solo and consort music for the viola da gamba naturally occupies a central place in his repertoire. Pierlot has edited and revived a number of operatic and vocal-instrumental works, including Monteverdi’s Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria, performed at venues including the Théâtre de la Monnaie in Brussels, Lincoln Center in New York and the Hebbel-Theater in Berlin, as well as at the Melbourne Festival. Other projects include Marin Marais’s Sémélé and Bach’s St Mark Passion. His recent viola da gamba recordings include Les Filles de Ste Colombe, devoted to the music of Sainte-Colombe, Consorts for Dystracted Times and Meditation, released by Flora, the record label he founded with fellow musicians. As a conductor and artistic director, his recent projects have included Bach’s St John Passion in Paris in collaboration with Les Talens Lyriques and stage director Calixto Bieito, as well as the St Matthew Passion in Belgium, France and Israel with the Jerusalem Baroque Orchestra. His long-standing collaboration with Jordi Savall and Hespèrion XXI holds a special place in his artistic career, alongside more intimate chamber projects with musicians such as theorbo player Daniel Zapico and soprano Céline Scheen. Pierlot also devotes considerable time to the younger generation of musicians, organising masterclasses and other musical projects in Spa. Philippe Pierlot is supported by the Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles.
Yetzabel Arias is a Cuban-born soprano and an internationally acclaimed interpreter of Baroque and Classical repertoire. She began her musical education in childhood and graduated in choral conducting from the Amadeo Roldán Conservatory and in classical singing from the Instituto Superior de Arte in Havana. She continued her vocal studies at the Accademia Internazionale della Musica in Milan. She has appeared at prestigious concert venues and festivals including the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Auditorio Nacional de Música in Madrid, Bachfest Leipzig, the Tonhalle in Zurich and the Konzerthaus in Vienna. Recent highlights include an appearance with the Ricercar Consort at the Utrecht Early Music Festival in 2025 and a European tour of Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo. She has collaborated with orchestras including the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra, the Berlin Philharmonic, the Arena di Verona Orchestra, the NHK Symphony Orchestra in Tokyo, the Orchestre National de Lyon, The Hague Philharmonic and the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, as well as with renowned early music ensembles such as the Capella Reial de Catalunya, La Risonanza, Accademia Bizantina, I Barocchisti, Ricercar Consort, La Venexiana and La Fonte Musica. A prizewinner at international competitions, she has made numerous recordings and performed throughout Europe, Israel, Japan, Canada, China, and North and South America.
Giovanna Pessi was born in Basel, Switzerland. She began playing the harp at an early age and studied historical harp and historical performance practice at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis, furthering her studies with Heidrun Rosenzweig in Basel and Edward Witsenburg in The Hague. She continued her training at the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik Trossingen with the Norwegian lutenist Rolf Lislevand.
For many years, she has also been deeply engaged with contemporary music on the Baroque harp and regularly collaborates with musicians and composers from Norway’s contemporary music and jazz scene. She has contributed to several recordings for the Munich-based label ECM Records. For the same label, she also recorded her own album, If Grief Could Wait, in collaboration with her ensemble and the Norwegian singer Susanna Wallumrød. As a soloist and chamber musician specialising in early music, she has collaborated with numerous distinguished artists. Working with singers holds a particularly important place in her artistic career, and she has enjoyed a long-standing musical partnership with soprano Céline Scheen. She has also performed with Rolf Lislevand, Philippe Pierlot and Marco Ambrosini and has participated in numerous recordings. Among these are Handel’s Harp Concerto with the Ricercar Consort and the album Liquide Perle, devoted to 17th century Italian music. She has appeared in opera productions and concerts under the direction of distinguished conductors, including Philippe Pierlot with the Ricercar Consort, Ottavio Dantone with Accademia Bizantina, and Nikolaus Harnoncourt with Concentus Musicus Wien.
Daniel Zapico was born in Langreo, Asturias. He developed an interest in early music from a young age and began specialising in the theorbo at the conservatory in his hometown. He graduated with highest honours from the Escola Superior de Música de Catalunya (ESMUC), where he studied with Xavier Díaz-Latorre, and subsequently completed a Master's degree in Musicology, Music Education and Early Music Performance at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. His solo album Au monde, featuring his own transcriptions of French Baroque music for theorbo, received widespread international critical acclaim, earning a Diapason d’Or, ffff from Télérama, and top ratings from Pizzicato, Melómano and Ritmo. The album was also nominated for the MIN Awards and the International Classical Music Awards (ICMA). As a founding member of Forma Antiqva, he has performed at leading international festivals for more than two decades. The ensemble has received numerous distinctions, including a MIN Award for the album Concerto Zapico Vol. 2. Zapico also collaborates regularly with La Ritirata and the Ricercar Consort, appearing with them at prestigious venues and festivals such as the White Light Festival at Lincoln Center in New York and La Folle Journée. His collaboration with artist Nina Laisné has included the production Romances inciertos, un autre Orlando, which has received more than one hundred performances, including appearances at the Festival d’Avignon and the Théâtre National de Chaillot in Paris. Their collaboration also gave rise to Arca ostinata, a miniature opera for theorbo, premiered in Annecy in 2021 and subsequently presented at venues including the Centre Pompidou in Paris and the Arsenal in Metz. Zapico has collaborated with numerous distinguished artists and ensembles on the international music scene, including Leonardo García Alarcón, Maxim Emelyanychev, Riccardo Muti, Christina Pluhar, Cappella Mediterranea, Il Pomo d’Oro and L’Arpeggiata. He has received numerous distinctions, including Asturiano del Mes, the Premios de la Música en Asturias, the Premio Serondaya for Cultural Innovation and the Gold Medal of the Foro Europeo Cum Laude.