The Mexican-born mezzo-soprano who performed the title role in The Queen of Carthage will return to Vancouver for a holiday concert. Cecilia Duarte is one of the soloists in Early Music Vancouver’s Festive Cantatas on December 22 at the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts.
Early Music Vancouver plans to pair Johann Sebastian Bach’s only cantata with Latin text, Gloria in excelsis Deo BWV 191, with Czech composer Jan Dismas Zelenka’s Missa Nativitatis Domini (ZWV 8). Bach’s work premiered on Christmas Day to celebrate the Peace of Dresden in 1745.
“For both Bach and Zelenka, writing these festive Christmas works predominantly in the key of D major was no arbitrary choice,” harpsichordist, organist, and pianist Connor Page writes in the program notes. “D major was the preferred key for baroque trumpets and lent itself to rich resonance on the violin, so it was associated in the minds of composers with everything bright and joyful.”
According to Early Music Vancouver, Zelenka was “the most important Bohemian composer before Gluck”.
“His Missa Nativitatis Domini was found in Carl Philipp Emannuel Bach’s personal effects, giving us a clue that the piece was known to J.S. Bach,” the arts organization states.
Duarte will sing alto, with James Reese as tenor and William Kraushaar as bass. Early Music Vancouver’s artistic and executive director, Suzie LeBlanc, and Hélène Brunet will sing soprano.
The singers will be accompanied by the Vancouver Chamber Choir and Pacific Baroque Orchestra, directed by Alexander Weimann.
Early life in Chihuahua
Duarte was born in the northern Mexican state of Chihuahua. As a result of her mother’s taste in music, she grew up listening to Latin American singer-songwriters from the 1940 and 1950s. In 2022, Duarte recorded a solo album, Reencuentros (Spanish for re-encounters), comprised of music harkening back to that era.
The longtime resident of Houston also sang solo on the Grammy Award-winning album Duruflé: The Complete Choral Works. Now, she is inspiring other early music singers who’ve immigrated to America from other countries.
“Sometimes, the life of an immigrant is proving yourself,” Duarte told Pancouver in 2023. “Prove that you are up to the level that they ask—but also understanding that everything that happened in my past is informing the way I perform right now. It’s not just what I’ve learned here, but who I am.”
In 2023, Duarte sang all the music in the Vancouver world premiere of The Queen of Carthage. The interdisciplinary production featured Vancouver dance artists Marisa Gold and Joulin Lee and contemporary compositions by Jessica McMann, Robyn Jacob, and Afarin Mansouri. In partnership with SFU Woodward’s Cultural Programs, Early Music Vancouver and re-Naissance Opera co-produced The Queen of Carthage, which also included baroque pieces by Henry Purcell and John Dowland.
Early Music Vancouver will present Festive Cantatas at 3 p.m. on December 22 at the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts on UBC’s Point Grey campus. David Gordon Duke will host a pre-concert chat at 2:15 p.m. with Alexander Weimann, Suzie LeBlanc, Benjamin Raymond, and James Reese in the RBC Room. For tickets and more information visit earlymusicbc.ca. Follow Pancouver on Twitter @PancouverMedia and on Instagram @PancouverMedia.
