Capella de Ministrers
Capella de Ministrers is an early music group formed in 1987 in Valencia, Spain by Carles Magraner.
Valencian music is prominent in its repertoire.
Work
Capella de Ministrers was formed in 1987 in Valencia by its director, the Valencian musicologist Carles Magraner (viola da gamba). The primary importance of the group is in the focus on restoring Valencian musical culture. Part of the group's mission is the recovery of Valencian musical heritage, from their first CD of 1989 - Musica Barroca Valenciana. This first release contained little-known villancicos by a number of Valencian composers: Juan Cabanilles (1644-1712), Francisco Hernandez Pla (d.1722), Joseph Pradas Gallen (1689-1757), Francisco Vicente Cervera (d.1749) and Pere Rabassa (1683-1767). The productions of the group follow the historical context to musical performance and releasing books with CDs, as in the book Music and Poetry for Ausias March, dedicated to the 15th Century Valencian poet.
The Iberian composers promoted by Capella de Ministrers cover a span of 500 years from anonymous medieval pieces such as found in the Llibre Vermell de Montserrat, El Cant de la Sibil・la, El Misterio de Elche, etc., through baroque works such as the ensaladas of Joan Brudieu, to better-known composers such as Vicente Martin y Soler. Soler's zarzuela La Madrilena (Madrid 1778) was revived by Magraner in 1996. The group has also promoted a revival in public and academic interest in the Majorcan composer Antonio de Literes by performance of Los Elementos and other works.
Performance venues
Concert halls in Spain
The ensemble has performed numerous concerts since its foundation and has played in leading music venues in Spain, including the Auditorio Nacional de Espana, the Palau de la Musica de Valencia and the Palau de la Musica Catalana, Auditorio de Leon, Teatro de La Maestranza, El Escorial, Centro Conde Duque, Auditorio de Castellon, and Teatro Cervantes.
Festivals
It has also participated in numerous festivals, such as the Festival de Musica Antiga de Barcelona, Madrid Cultural 1992 (with the revival of the opera Los elementos by Antonio Literes), the Festival de Teatro Clasico de Almagro, the Festival de Peralada, the Quinzena Musical Donostiarra, Los Veranos de la Villa (Madrid), the Festival Grec (Barcelona), the Festival Internacional de Musica y Danza de Granada and the Festival de Musica Religiosa de Cuenca, Serenates a la Universitat (Valencia), Festival Are More (Vigo), Festival Medieval de Elche, and the International Jewish Music Festival in Amsterdam.
Internationally
The group has also performed outside Spain. Within Europe it has performed in France, Belgium, Rumania, Portugal, Holland, Italy, Germany, England, Poland, Finland, Austria, Croatia, Greece, Sweden and Norway. Outside Europe it has performed in Chile, Argentina, Brazil, the United States, Mexico, Cuba, Tunisia, Egypt, Morocco, Algeria, China and Japan.