Stabat Mater

Written in Italy in the 13th century, the Stabat Mater is one of the most famous sequences of the Catholic liturgy. This long Latin poem of sixty verses describes the suffering of the Virgin at the foot of the cross, where she sees her son die. From the end of the Middle Ages and the beginning of the Renaissance, composers set this moving text to music. But it was in the Baroque period that the figure of the Virgin was an even more important object of devotion, and from then on, the Stabat Mater became an essential figure in sacred music. The most famous remains that of Pergolesi, a composer who died at the age of 26, which gave rise to a legend comparable to that of Mozart's Requiem. The work was abundantly performed and published from the 17th century onwards and contributed greatly to the posthumous glory of its author. Another prayer also dedicated to the Virgin Mary, the Salve Regina also had many musical versions. On the programme for this evening is one of Scarlatti's five versions and that of Leonardo Leo, a pupil of Scarlatti and one of the most prolific opera composers of his time.

PRODUCTION Les Grandes Voix