Credits:

Maris Janson and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra.

Description:

Stabat Mater (Our Lady of Sorrows) is a 13th century Catholic chant that expresses the sorrow of the Virgin Mary as she stood by Christ during his crucifixion. The lyrics are attributed to Jacopone da Todi. Whatever the reason, the grief of a mother for the loss of her beloved son is universal, and many artists have written works inspired by these lyrics. Dvořák's "Stabat Mater" is known for its deep reflection of his own personal grief, and in 1876, devastated by the death of his newborn daughter, Josepha, only a few months after her birth, he began sketching the piece, which he completed the following year in August 1877. The following year, in August 1877, his young daughter Růžena died of a cigarette accident, and his three-year-old son Otakar also died of smallpox. As if to overcome his grief, Dvořák wrote this work in November 1877, and its premiere at the regular concert of the Prague Musical Art Society on December 23, 1880, was a great success. In this performance by Jansons, the mood at the beginning of the gloomy first piece does not change until the fourth piece, and finally changes to a slightly brighter and more enveloping atmosphere in the fifth piece, "Hurt for My Sake.The rest of the concert goes back and forth between sadness and consolation, but it is truly moving when, in the tenth and final piece, the music takes a solemn turn as if all the sadness is blown away. The fugue that follows is also wonderful, without a stitch of disarray. The orchestra, soloists, and chorus all seem to have put their all into this Dvorak. The calculated expression of emotion is astonishing, and not just a rush of passion. Naxos Japan