LES DEUX STABATS
Program:
GIOVANNI BATTISTA PERGOLESI: Stabat Mater, 1736, Vienna version: transcription by Eybler, Seyfried and Nicolai
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JOSEPH HAYDN: Stabat Mater, 1767, Hob. XXa:1
Emőke Baráth - soprano
Bernadett Nagy - alto
Márton Komáromi - tenor
Nikolay Borchev - baritone
Hungarian National Choir (Choirmaster: Csaba Somos)
Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra
Conductor: György Vashegyi
In the churches of 1780s Paris, Les Deux Stabats was the name used to advertise some extraordinarily popular concerts, where audiences listened to first Pergolesi’s, and then Hadyn’s Stabat Mater. Now, the artists of the Hungarian National Philharmonic, led by György Vashegyi, will pay tribute to this time-honoured custom.
Stabat Mater – The Mother Stood – is one of the best-known Catholic Latin hymns. It sings about the suffering of Jesus on the cross, though not from the perspective of the Redeemer, or the faithful, but of Mary, the pained, helpless mother living through the suffering of her son. It is thought to have been composed by the 13th century Italian mystic Jacopone da Todi. Giovanni Battista Pergolesi wrote his Stabat Mater in 1736, shortly before his death at the age of 26. It is not only the composer’s most celebrated church work, but also one of the most popular religious compositions in all of European musical history. Joseph Haydn’s own attempt at setting the hymn to music was completed 31 years later, in 1767. Though there are many differences from its predecessor – the Italian composer employed only two soloists, a soprano and an alto, Hadyn used a soprano alto, a tenor and a bass – Hadyn did use Pergolesi’s already popular work as a model for certain aspects of the piece. With György Vashegyi as conductor, the dual production will see an group of soloists take to the stage: Emőke Baráth - soprano, Bernadett Nagy - alto, Márton Komáromi - tenor and a Belarusian baritone Nikolay Borchev.
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