• National Hispanic Cultural Center (map)
  • Albuquerque, NM

In 1850, Berlioz slipped a gentle chorus into a Paris concert and credited it to “Pierre Ducré,” a 17th-century church composer he’d invented outright. Parisians who couldn’t stand his music were charmed: one declared that “Berlioz could never write a tune so beautiful”. He spent the next four years building a full oratorio around that little piece: L’Enfance du Christ, tracing the Holy Family’s flight into Egypt across three parts and ninety minutes. Most people know only its one famous excerpt, “The Shepherds’ Farewell”; the complete work is rarely performed, which makes hearing the whole of it a real occasion. Featuring John Tiranno, Javier Ortiz, Cecilia Violetta López, and Ashraf Sewailam, conducted by Zoe Zeniodi.