Works by the Czech composer Ryba and the Italian-Polish Cartellieri—both celebrated and long forgotten—will be performed at the Haydneum’s Sacred Music Concerts this May at the University Church in Budapest.
Audiences attending the first concert on 29 May will experience a modern-day Hungarian premiere, while Haydn’s The Seven Last Words of Our Saviour on the Cross will be performed on 31 May.
The long-neglected works of the Italian-Polish composer Antonio Casimir Cartellieri are being brought back to life thanks to the research of Finnish conductor and harpsichordist Aapo Häkkinen. Leading the Helsinki Baroque Orchestra, Häkkinen conducts the composer’s oratorio dedicated to the Virgin Mary, presented here in its modern Hungarian premiere.
Paired with Cartellieri’s oratorio La Purificazione di Maria Vergine is Jakub Jan Ryba’s Stabat Mater, one of the hidden gems of Czech Classical music. Ryba was an exceptionally prolific composer of the late Classical era, leaving behind more than fifteen hundred works. Among his largest-scale compositions is this richly coloured and emotionally nuanced oratorio on the Sorrowful Mother. Häkkinen and the Helsinki Baroque Orchestra will be joined by the Purcell Choir and an international cast of soloists.
The second concert, on 31 May, features Haydn’s The Seven Last Words of Our Saviour on the Cross in the rarely performed 1787 fortepiano version, interpreted by Petra Somlai. The audience’s contemplation of the individual movements will be enriched by reflections from Péter Pázmány, recited by András Berecz. (Language: Hungarian)
The Seven Last Words of Our Saviour on the Cross has by now become a traditional annual feature of the Haydneum Sacred Music Festival and ranks among the most beloved works of the Classical repertoire. Its original orchestral version, as well as the oratorio and string quartet arrangements, frequently appear in concert programmes. The fortepiano version, also prepared by Haydn himself, is however only rarely heard.