MUSICA IN CITTÀ
Per soli, coro e pianoforte op. 58 (1876)
by Antonín Dvořák
Soprano
Iolanda Massimo
Mezzosoprano
Alena Sautier
Tenor
Antonio Mandrillo
Bass
Marco Camastra
Piano
Patrizia Priarone
Conductor
Claudio Marino Moretti
Opera Carlo Felice Genova Chorus
The Stabat Mater represents the first chapter of Dvořák’s sacred music, culminating with the masterpieces Requiem and Te Deum. Dvorak, who started writing the score in February 1876 following the loss of his daughter Josefa, continued composing with unusual slowness, while fate continued to reserve devastating new tests for him such as the death of his eldest daughter and his four-years-old son. Dated 1876, the first version of Stabat Mater for soloists, chorus and piano was then followed by its orchestral version, completed in 1877. The cantata consists of ten numbers, of which only the first and last are thematically interconnected, reprising the initial themes in major mode in the sumptuous final fugue. The score was completed in Prague on November 13, 1877 and the first performance took place only three years later, on December 23, 1880 on behalf of the Association of Music Artists of Prague, to whom Dvořák dedicated the composition. A year and a half later, the composition was performed in two more concerts in Prague and once in Budapest. In March 1884, the Stabat achieved a great success at the Royal Albert Hall in London with the conductions of the same Dvorak and a total of 800 choristers, and then in other numerous European performances.
STABAT MATER
Per soli, coro e pianoforte op. 58 (1876)
by Antonin Dvořák
1. Quartetto, Coro. Andante con moto (Stabat Mater dolorosa),
2. Quartetto. Andante sostenuto (Quis est homo, qui non fleret),
3. Coro. Andante con moto (Eja, Mater, fons amoris),
4. Basso solo, Coro. Largo (Fac, ut ardeat cor meum)
5. Coro. Andante con moto, quasi allegretto (Tui nati vulnerati)
6. Tenore solo, Coro. Andante con moto (Fac me vere tecum flere)
7. Coro. Largo (Virgo virginum praeclara)
8. Duo. Larghetto (Fac, ut portem Christi mortem)
9. Alto solo. Andante maestoso (Inflammatus et accensus)
10. Quartetto, Coro. Andante con moto (Quando corpus morietur)
Iolanda Massimo studied piano and opera singing at the Lorenzo Perosi Conservatory in Campobasso with the mezzo-soprano Claudia Marchi. Before her vocal studies, she obtained a diploma in ballet from the Royal Academy of Dance in London. She perfected her formation with Richard Barker and debuted in 2018 playing Frugola in Tabarro and Suor Zelatrice in Puccini’s Suor Angelica, at the Teatro Savoia in Campobasso. In the same year, she sang Kate in Madama Butterfly by Giacomo Puccini at the Teatro Moderno in Latina. In 2019, she sang Vivaldi’s Gloria and the song cycle Les Nuits d’ Été by Hector Berlioz for soprano and orchestra at the Teatro Savoia in Campobasso. In 2021 she participated as an effective student to the Accademia Rossiniana Alberto Zedda, perfecting her Rossini repertoire with Ernesto Palacio. In July 2021, she made her debut at the Teatro Rossini in Pesaro, singing the roles of Corinna and Delia in Il viaggio a Reims at the Rossini Opera Festival. The same year, in September, she held a bel canto concert at the Teatro Rossini in Lugo on the occasion of the Rossini Open Festival, accompanied by the pianist Richard Barker. In November, she won the First International Singing Competition “Voce all’Opera Giancarlo Aliverta” in Milan, receiving the Special Prize of the Accademia Belcanto “Rodolfo Celletti” di Martina Franca. In the same year, she was selected by the soprano Raina Kabaivanska to participate in the annual master class in vocal technique and interpretation held in Modena. In January 2022, she won the selection for the Accademia di Alto Perfezionamento dell’Opera Carlo Felice Genova, perfecting her repertoire with the artistic director Francesco Meli, Serena Gamberoni, Michele Pertusi, Rosa Feola, Chris Merritt and Roberto De Candia. In June 2022, she made her debut at the Opera Carlo Felice Genoa playing Fiorilla for the opera Turco in Italia by Gioachino Rossini.
The German mezzo-soprano Alena Sautier was born and raised in Bologna. In 2008, she completed with honors her vocal studies at the Vorarlberger Landeskonservatorium. She also studied with Rita Loving, Josef Loibl, Dunja Vejzovic, Danilo Rigosa and Bianca Maria Casoni. She performed at the Tonhalle in Zurich, at the Teatro Comunale in Bologna, at the Teatro Valli in Reggio Emilia, at the San Carlo in Naples, at the Tiroler Festspiele in Erl, at the Grand Théâtre de Genève, at the Teatro Massimo in Palermo, and she has toured in Shanghai and Beijing. In such theaters, she performed in the operas Così fan tutte (Dorabella), The Merry Wives of Windsor (Frau Reich), Poro Re delle Indie (Gandarte), La traviata (Flora), Hansel and Gretel (Hansel), The Magic Flute (Third Lady), Verdi’s Requiem in Bach’s Matthäus-Passion andin Bach’s Matthäus-Passion. She also played several parts in Rossini’s operas such as Rosina in the Barbiere di Siviglia, Arsace in Semiramide, Isabella in L’italiana in Algeri, Andromache in Ermione ed Ernestina, the Thief in L’Occasione fa il ladro, and also Wagnerian parts such as Erda in Siegfried and Rheingold, Schwertleite in Die Walküre, la Prima Norma and Waltraute in Götterdämmerung, as well as Magdalena in Meistersinger von Nürnberg and the Third Flower Maiden in Parsifal. She worked with conductors such as R. Abbado, M. Angius, D. Ceccherini, J. Fritzsch, G. Kuhn, F. Luisi, Y. Valčua, O. Meier Wellber, L. Zagrosek, and with directors such as Arlaud, Brockhaus, Carsen, Castellucci, Joosten, Tiezzi and Vick.
The baritone Marco Camastra studied with Rosetta Noli. Winner of various international opera competitions, in 1987 he made his debut at the Teatro dell’Opera di Sanremo in Madama Butterfly and Elisir d’amore. Throughout his career, he has sung in the most important Italian theatres: Teatro alla Scala in Milan, Arena di Verona, Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Teatro Regio di Torino, Teatro Massimo in Palermo, Teatro Comunale in Bologna, Opera di Roma, Teatro La Fenice di Venezia, Opera Carlo Felice di Genova, Teatro Regio di Parma. Internationally speaking, Marco Camastra has performed in Vienna, Berlin, Tokyo, Shanghai, Beijing, Montreal, Rotterdam, Seoul, Lugano, Nancy, Monte-Carlo, Tenerife, Tel Aviv, Tallinn, Bangkok, Bratislava, Lima, Palma De Mallorca.
He performed conducted by renowned figures such as Riccardo Muti, Zubin Mehta, Daniel Oren, Placido Domingo, Gianandrea Gavazzeni, Bruno Bartoletti, Riccardo Chailly, Renato Palumbo, James Conlon, Gary Bertini, Bruno Campanella, Maurizio Arena, Gianluigi Gelmetti, Roberto Abbado, Salvatore Accardo , Donato Renzetti, Garcia Navarro, Alain Guingal; and directors such as Franco Zeffirelli, Pier Luigi Pizzi, Pier’Alli, Hugo de Ana, Gilbert Deflo, Ugo Gregoretti, Zhang Yimou, Filippo Crivelli, Giuliano Montaldo, Lamberto Puggelli, Mario Pontiggia, Denis Krief.
Some notable performances of his worth remembering: Gluck’s Armide at the Teatro alla Scala di Milano; Turandot at the Teatro Massimo di Palermo, at the Arena di Verona, at the Teatro Verdi in Salerno, at the Teatro Bellini in Catania and at the World Cup Stadium of Seoul; Manon Lescaut at the Deutsche Oper in Berlin and at the Opera di Roma; Don Giovanni at the Teatro Bellini in Catania; Il cappello di paglia di Firenze at the Teatro Piccinni di Bari; Carmen at the Arena di Verona; the Mass in G major by Schubert in the Vatican hall Aula Paolo VI in the presence of Pope Giovanni Paolo II; L’elisir d’amore at the Teatro Filarmonico in Verona and at the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino; L’italiana in Algeri at the Teatro Verdi in Trieste. He also played Schaunard in Bohème at the Teatro Massimo di Palermo; Dandini in Cinderella at the Oriental Art Center in Shanghai; the Sagrestano in Tosca at the Teatro Lirico di Cagliari, at the Arena di Verona, at the Teatro Regio di Torino and at the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma; Rigoletto in Rigoletto at the Semaine Italienne in Montréal; Don Profondo in Viaggio a Reims at the Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino; Bartolo in The Barber of Seville at the Rome Opera, the Teatro Principal in Palma de Mallorca, the Palau des Les Arts in Valencia, the New Slovack Theater in Bratislava, the Israeli Opera in Tel Aviv and the Deutsche Oper in Berlin. He took part in the performance of Hermann Suter’s Laudi di San Francesco at the G. Agnelli Auditorium in Turin.
He debuted in the main role in Don Pasquale at the Israeli Opera House in Tel Aviv, in Fra’ Melitone in Forza del destino at the New National Theater in Tokyo, and in Benoît e Alcindoro in Bohème at the Teatro Massimo di Palermo, highlighting the predilection current for character and caricature roles.
He has more than 20 official recordings between live and studio recordings to his credit, of which we mention: La pietra del paragone for Bongiovanni; Carmen and Turandot for Companions Classic; Andrea Chénierand La traviata for Universal. On video: Turandot for EMI; Carmen for Fondazione Arena di Verona; Adriana Lecouvreur for the Teatro alla Scala di Milano; Madama Butterfly for the Festival di Torre del Lago and Un ballo in maschera for Rai.
Marco Camastra is a very active professional in the field of sacred music. In particular, he performed and recorded numerous oratorios by Lorenzo Perosi and both contemporary and jazz music. He was an opera singing teacher in various academies and musical institutes, giving many masterclasses in Italy and abroad.
Patrizia Priaronehad worked as an accompanist, winning a scholarship at La Bottega di Treviso as Maestro sostituto under the guidance of Maestro Peter Maag and participating in the production of Il Matrimonio segreto directed by M° G. Samale. He conducted concerts with soloists, chorus and orchestra including Missa brevis by W. A. Mozart “Gloria” and Magnificat by A. Vivaldi, excerpts from Il Messia by G. F. Haendel, Stabat Mater by G. B. Pergolesi, Missa Criolla by A. Ramirez and Little Jazz Mass by B. Chilcott. In 1997, he participated as harpsichordist in the creation of the CD of Il Campanello by Gaetano Donizetti. In 1999, he obtained an Opera conducting degree at the Accademia Filarmonica di Bologna. Since 1999, he has been working at the Opera Carlo Felice di Genova as M° Collaboratore and, since 2011, as chorus Altro maestro.
Claudio Marino Moretti began his musical studies at the Brescia Conservatory. Later, he moved to the Milan Conservatory, studied composition with Franco Donatoni and piano with Antonio Ballista. He collaborated for some years with Mino Bordignon at the Civici cori in Milan and later with Bruno Casoni at the Teatro Regio di Torino. He founded the children’s chorus of the Teatro Regio di Torino and of the Turin Conservatory, with whom he carried out an intense teaching and concert activity. Since 2001, he has been chorus master of the Teatro Regio di Torino, with whom he recorded Giuseppe Verdi’s Requiem under the direction of Semyon Bychkov in Cologne together with the Cologne Radio chorus and the Hamburg Radio chorus. From 2008 to 2021, Moretti had been the chorus master of the Teatro La Fenice in Venice, preparing the world premiere of Bruno Maderna’s Requiem and subsequently of Luigi Nono’s Intolleranza in parallel with the great operatic and symphonic repertoire. He participated in many concerts with repertoires ranging from the complete motets of Bach to both historical and contemporary composers of the XX century. He collaborated with many conductors such as Fabio Luisi, Gianandrea Noseda, Bruno Campanella, Riccardo Frizza, Myung-Whun Chung, Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Daniel Harding, Georges Prêtre, Michel Plasson, Semyon Bychkov, Claudio Abbado and many others. He carries out activities as a liberal companion.
The chorus of the Opera Carlo Felice Genova was born in the year of the inauguration of the Theatre, in 1828; in over 170 years of activity, training has acquired considerable importance on the national scene.
In addition to the interpretation of the lyrical repertoire from the Baroque to contemporaneity, deeply rooted in the operatic activity of the Theatre, the chorus of Opera Carlo Felice Genova explores Medieval and Renaissance polyphonic forms proper of the Baroque and Classical choral repertoire, of the great Romantic and Late romantic symphonic-choral compositions, up until the multifaceted twentieth-century musical expressions.
The artistic experience of the vocal ensemble has developed with the fundamental contribution of prestigious masters who, since its establishment, have been gradually and constantly refining its qualitative features.
A particular mention for: Lido Nistri, Leone Magiera, Bruno Pizzi, Tullio Boni, Adolfo Fanfani, Ferruccio Lozer, Dante Ghersi, Marco Faelli, Gianfranco Cosmi, Fulvio Angius, Fulvio Fogliazza, and more recently, Ciro Visco, Giovanni Andreoli, Lorenzo Fratini, Marco Balderi, Pablo Assante and Franco Sebastiani.
Also, it’s worth remembering the significant collaborations with the great conductors: Mstislav Rostropovič, Giannandrea Gavazzeni, Spiros Argiris, Peter Maag, Gary Bertini, Antonio Pappano, Yuri Ahronovitch, Christian Thielemann, Daniel Oren, Bruno Bartoletti, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, Nello Santi, Lorin Maazel, Bruno Campanella, Nicola Luisotti, Donato Renzetti, Gianluigi Gelmetti, Michel Plasson and Fabio Luisi.
