FREE CONCERT. Stabat Mater by Giovanni Battista Pergolesi. Finished just days before his death at the age of 26, Stabat Mater evokes the Viennese master in its skillful use of dissonant details within a harmonically simple framework to create intense pathos. A corollary of this forward-looking stance is that his music, perhaps more than that of any of his contemporaries, works well in performances on modern instruments, in modern style. Pergolesi's piece is written for soprano, mezzo soprano, strings, and continuo. Mexican Opera Singers, Zaira Soria (Mexico National Opera) and Maria Avalos (Franco Iglesias Opera Ensemble) may sound as though they're singing Verdi at times, but they blend beautifully and are fully attuned to Pergolesi's dramatic masterstrokes: the affecting repeated notes for the mezzo at the end of the "Eja mater" section, at the words "ut tecum lugeam" (so that I may mourn with you), followed by the extremely tumultuous duet at "Fac ut ardeat cor meum" (Set my heart on fire), to take one example. The two soloists are magnificent in the haunting finale, "Quando corpus morietur" (When my body dies), and ''Orquesta de Camara de Chihuahua '' a venerable group that has kept making superior concert as fashions have changed, offers graceful support under the baton of director Maestro Francisco Rocafuerte Alejandro Rosas of El Universal, Mexico City. Pick up your FREE tickets at the Harlingen Area Chamber of Commerce located at 311 E Tyler.
Date and Time
Saturday Mar 27, 2010
6:00 PM - 8:00 PM CDT
