Pannon Philharmonic

Conductor

András Vass

Education:
Twelve years of piano studies at the Targu Mures Arts Lyceum; two years of private study with the composer Boldizsár Csíky; Balthasar five years of conducting study led by  Ervin Lukács, András Ligeti, and Tamás Gál, after having admitted with maximum score to Franz Liszt Academy of Music… More

Soloist

Beatrix Fodor

soprano

Judit Németh

János Szerekován

tenor

László Jekl

basso

Pannon Philharmonic Festival Choir (choirmasters: András Vass and László Dobos)

About the Programme

The celebration of Easter could be associated with several musical genres and works. Among them, the Stabat Mater has a paramount importance. The medieval hymn about Virgin Mary’s pains suffered at the death of her son has inspired a number of significant composers from Josquin on. Among the most important names we will find Giovanni Pergolesi, who lived only twenty-six years; his Stabat Mater, finished in 1736, was the most cited work of sacred music not only in his time but throughout the 18th century. Pergolesi's work was certainly known by Joseph Haydn, who, however, sought for more serious tone as well as more complex structure in his composition with the same title for soloists, choir and orchestra than his predecessor in Italy. The universality of the work, which was premiered under the lead of Haydn, who played the harpsichord, too, in 1767 in Eisenstadt, can be seen in the fact that it shortly had victories in such cultural centres as Paris and London; and it was celebrated not only in Catholic but –in German version- also in Protestant circles. The Stabat Mater kept its popularity even after its re-orchestration a few decades later; it is still considered as one of Haydn's most important sacral works.