theartsdesk in Cuenca: Religious Music Week

Music for the soul, Ku Klux Klan lookalikes and football in Easter Week Festival

by Peter CulshawSaturday, 23 April 2011

Houses perched precariously in the medieval town of CuencaPeter Culshaw

It’s Holy Wednesday in Cuenca, and going round the corner into Cathedral Square I’m surrounded by hordes of guys in multicoloured mufti who look like the Ku Klux Klan, with unnecessarily pointy hoods. Twenty of them are carrying a heavy float with a large statue of Jesus on it. In Cuenca things are fairly austere, compared to other places where there’s a lot of self-whipping, or where, if you have sin on your conscience, you may end up banging nails into your hands, as in Mexico. Still there are alternative amusements – the Copa Del Rey final of Real Madrid v Barcelona is blaring out of bars – and it’s the 50th edition of Cuenca’s Religious Music Festival.

The effect of the popularity of festivals like Cuenca, with its early music emphasis, is to gradually shift the centre of gravity of classical music backwards

Buy

Alexandre Tharaud on Amazon

Explore topics

Share this article

Subscribe to theartsdesk.com

Thank you for continuing to read our work on theartsdesk.com. For unlimited access to every article in its entirety, including our archive of more than 15,000 pieces, we're asking for £5 per month or £40 per year. We feel it's a very good deal, and hope you do too.

To take a subscription now simply click here.

And if you're looking for that extra gift for a friend or family member, why not treat them to a theartsdesk.com gift subscription?

more Classical music

Kolesnikov, Hallé, Elts, Bridgewater Hall, Manchester review - the dude who dazzles Fun French music forms a foil to naked, virtuoso pianism

Fauré Centenary Concert 5, Wigmore Hall review - a final flight The master of levitation in transcendent performances from Steven Isserlis and friends

Ohlsson, BBC Philharmonic, Storgårds, Bridgewater Hall, Manchester review - grace and power in Brahms A time-travelling journey through the Austro-German Romantic tradition

Fauré Centenary Concert 1, Wigmore Hall review - Isserlis and friends soar Saint-Saëns is no also-ran in the opening event of a wondrous homage

'His ideal worlds embraced me with their light and love': violinist Irène Duval on the music of Fauré On the centenary of the great French composer's death, a fine interpreter pays homage

Aci, Galatea e Polifemo, La Nuova Musica, Bates, Wigmore Hall review - thrilling Handel at full throttle Vibrant rendering filled with passion and delight

Hallé, Wong, Bridgewater Hall, Manchester review - Bruckner’s Ninth completed Kahchun Wong takes Manchester audience on an epic journey

The Orchestral Forest, Smith Square Hall review - living the orchestra from the inside Immersive concert explores the plight of the British rainforest through music

Classical CDs: Leaves, prisms and sub-bass A great pianist bows out, plus two cello discs and a new organ's first outing

First Person: Bob Riley on Manchester Camerata's championship of a Centre of Excellence for Music and Dementia Making a difference out of the musical ghetto

Aurora Orchestra, Collon, Drumsheds review - surround-sound magic in the super-club On a vast dancefloor, the chance to listen from inside the orchestra

Kaleidoscope Chamber Collective, Wigmore Hall review - warm and colourful Bartók and Brahms Versatile chamber ensemble excels in clarinet-focused repertoire

Follow @theartsdesk