Classical Music Concert ‘Stabat Mater’

The well-known mezzo soprano Anoki von Arx returns to Technopolis 20 on Friday, March 31 at 8pm, this time with the Soprano Valeria Shesternina and the pianist Milena Romanova (piano).

The programme will begin the world premiere of the oratorio “Lazarus” by the Cypriot composer Frixos Christis who will be present at the concert. The Oratorio "Lazarus" for Symphony Orchestra, Choir and three soloists (baritone, Soprano and mezzo soprano), was composed in 2022 fifty years after the discovery of the Holy Relics of Saint Lazarus in the homonymous Church in Larnaca. It consists of 14 parts.

The evening will continue with the Stabat Mater sequence, a 13th-century Christian hymn to Mary, which portrays her suffering as Jesus Christ's mother during his crucifixion. The title comes from its first line, Stabat Mater dolorosa, which means "the sorrowful mother was standing" and has been set to music by many Western composers, including Giovanni Battista Pergolesi, whose work is going to be presented. 

Entrance: €15 / €8 (students)

Reservations are necessary at 70002420.

A few words about the 'Stabat Mater'

Only a few weeks before his untimely death, at the age of 26, Pergolesi (1710-1736) finished the composition of his most famous piece, the Stabat Mater, commissioned by a religious brotherhood in Naples for the liturgic ceremony for all Fridays in March, to replace Scarlatti’s piece of the same name. He set in music a late medieval poem on the suffering of Maria, Mother of God, whose author is not clearly known but which is representative of the religious poetry of its time. The piece is based on the aesthetic principle of chiaroscuro, that is, contrasting lighting, and applies the so-called gallant style to religious music. It became quickly known throughout the world, it was the most printed work of music in the 18th century, and was performed in various contexts and arrangements, exercising a tremendous impact on musical culture and history until our days. This performance combines the religious music with choreographic components.