Sat, 23 Sept
|Il-Belt Valletta
Stabat Mater - Gioachino Rossini
Time & Location
23 Sept 2023, 19:00 – 21:00
Il-Belt Valletta, Old Theatre Street, Il-Belt Valletta, Malta
About The Event
Conductor: Riccardo Bianchi
Orchestra: CRR Istanbul Symphony Orchestra
Genre: Romantic
The Stabat Mater is to Rossini what the Requiem would be to Verdi. A unique full-scale religious setting which still seems to have its essence within the lyrical theatre. For Rossini it was also a case of a composer coming out of retirement to create one of his finest works and then retreating back to compose little salon pieces to please his Parisian friends. The Stabat Mater is written for full orchestra with four soloists and chorus which is divided into ten sections Operatic and highly melodic in style, it ranges from an impressively grand opening through the popular tenor aria Cujus animam to the two remarkable unaccompanied chorus passages that impressed Wagner so much.
The serious nature of the piece is confirmed by the use of a big double fugue as conclusion. Certainly more forward looking towards Verdi rather than Bach, this is one of Rossini’s finest and most appealing works. The jokes of the Barber may not be there, nor the patriotic words of William Tell, but the popular expression of Mediterranean belief in life and faith shows that Rossini still was able, after his self-styled retirement, to create another new masterpiece.