Time 18:00
Collegium Copernicanum - Concert Hall, Kopernika 1 in Bydgoszcz
The event is part of the Festival „Bydgoska Scena Barokowa”
Johann Adolf Hasse (1699-1783) became famous first as an excellent tenor, and soon also as an outstanding composer. Undoubtedly, his singing experience played an important role in shaping his creativity. Virtuoso arias, melodic sensitivity, and suggestive vocal parts – both in his operas and religious works – aroused the admiration of the listeners and the recognition of the performers. Hasse’s works were included in the repertoires of the greatest stars of the 18th-century stages. Among them were both famous castrati, such as Farinell or Senesino, and leading female singers, e.g. Francesca Cuzzoni or the wife of the composer, Faustina Bordoni.
However, the oratorio Sanctus Petrus et Sancta Maria Magdalena was probably not written with great names in mind. The work was created for the Ospedale degli Incurabili in Venice, where it was probably performed for the first time by girls from the local orphanage during the Good Friday celebrations in the late 1750s. The text of the piece is an emotional dialogue between Saint Peter and Mary Magdalene accompanied by Maria Salome, Mary the mother of Jacob and Joseph of Arimathea. The composer expresses the unspeakable suffering and inconsolable grief after Christ’s death by means of various musical means, and above all – the masterfully applied bel canto technique.
Marta Dziewanowska-Pachowska
PERFORMERS
SANCTUS PETRUS (COUNTERTENOR) RAFAŁ TOMKIEWICZ
SANCTA MARIA MAGDALENA (SOPRANO) MAŁGORZATA TROJANOWSKA
MARIA JACOBE (SOPRANO) MARTA BOBERSKA
MARIA SALOME (MEZZOSOPRANO) ANETA ŁUKASZEWICZ
JOSEPH (COUNTERTENOR) JAKUB FOLTAK
THE PERIOD INSTRUMENTS ENSEMBLE OF THE POLISH ROYAL OPERA CAPELLA REGIA POLONA
KRZYSZTOF GARSTKA HARPSICHORD, CONDUCTOR
Duration: approx. 1h
