Ensemble Opera Diversa: Contemporary Religious Music in Brno

3 September 2019, 1:00
Ensemble Opera Diversa: Contemporary Religious Music in Brno

Ensemble Opera Diversa is preparing the second performance of the 25th symphony by the composer František Gregor Emmert in Brno. The programme, dedicated to contemporary sacred music, will complement this symphony with a selection of Emmert's Psalm Songs and an iconic composition for strings by the Estonian composer Arvo Pärt. The soloists of the evening will be Jarmila Balážová, Milan Paľa and Marek Paľa, and the concert will be conducted by Marián Lejava.

The flagship composition of the programme is the 25th Symphony ' K tobě byl poslán anděl ' [An Angel Was Sent to You] by the Brno composer František Gregor Emmert (1940–2015), which was premiered on 1 June 2017 in Brno. . In its second performance in Brno, this symphony will be complemented by a selection of Emmert's Psalm Songs and an iconic composition for strings by the world-famous Estonian composer Arvo Pärt. The concert will take place on 17 September 2019 at 20:00 in the Church of St. Augustine in Brno.

Programme:

Arvo Pärt (*1935): Fratres for violin, strings and drums (1977) 10'

František Gregor Emmert (1940–2015): Psalm songs for mezzo-soprano and organ (1986) selection

František Gregor Emmert: Symphony No. 25 for viola, organ, mezzo-soprano and strings (2012) 39'

on a selection of verses and words of Psalm 80 and the Virgin Mary prayers of St. Catherine of Siena, Gertrude von Le Fort and the Rosary of Pain

I. Vinice [Vineyard] – Canto sperare

II. Den milosti [Day of Grace] – Canto d’amore

III. Trním korunován [Crowned with Thorns] – Canto doloroso

Jsi mým přístřeším pod hvězdnou oblohou [You Are My Shelter under the Star-lit Sky] – Canto caritatis

Performers:

Milan Paľa (violin, viola), Marek Paľa (organ), Jarmila Balážová (mezzo-soprano), Ensemble Opera Diversa, concert master Jan Bělohlávek, conducted by Marián Lejava. 

Milan Paľa / photo by Julian Veverica

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