David Rothenberg is chair of the Case Western Reserve University Department of Music. He's giving the free concert previews in Reinberger Chamber Hall in Severance Hall prior to both performances. Here you can listen to the entire preview.
Seeking solace, a grief-stricken Dvořák wrote his Stabat Mater, the Latin text describing Mary’s anguish as she stood before the cross, after he suffered the loss of three of his children in rapid and tragic succession. A profound, masterful setting of the expression of loss and sorrow, Dvořák's work conveys his sense of deepest emptiness, and documents his personal inner struggle and hard-won hope regained through devotional music.
The Cleveland Orchestra presents two performances of Stabat Mater.
Thursday, May 26 at 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, May 28 at 8:00 p.m.
Severance Hall
The Cleveland Orchestra
Franz Welser-Möst, conductor
Erin Wall, soprano
Jennifer Johnston, mezzo-soprano
Norbert Ernst, tenor
Eric Owens, bass-baritone
Cleveland Orchestra Chorus (Robert Porco, director)
Music samples
Josquin des Prez: Stabat Mater, dolorosa (Chapelle royale; Philippe Herreweghe, director; HMC 901243 Harmonia Mundi France)
Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina: Stabat Mater, dolorosa (The Sixteen; Harry Christophers, conductor; 50092 Collins Classics)
Giovanni Battista Pergolesi: Stabat Mater, dolorosa (Gillian Fisher, soprano; Michael Chance, countertenor; The King's Consort; Robert King, conductor; CDA66294 Hyperion)
Gioacchino Rossini: Stabat Mater, dolorosa (Coro e Orchestra del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino ; Riccardo Muti, conductor; 7243 5 68658 2 2 EMI)
Antonín Dvořák: Stabat Mater (Stefania Woytowicz, soprano; Věra Soukupová, alto; Ivo Žídek, tenor; Kim Borg, bass; Prague Philharmonic Choir; Czech Philharmonic Orchestra; Václav Smetáček, conductor; Supraphon 3775-2212)