Bristol Choral Society Colston Hall concert 23 March: Verdi & Rossini

Saturday 23 March 2013, 7.30pm
Colston Hall, Bristol

Rossini - Stabat Mater
Verdi - Quattro Pezzi Sacri (Four Sacred Pieces)
Ave Maria | Stabat Mater | Laudi alla Virgine Maria | Te Deum

Bristol Choral Society
English Symphony Orchestra
Adrian Partington - Conductor

Camilla Roberts (soprano)
Clare Presland (mezzo-soprano)
Adrian Dwyer (tenor)
David Soar (bass)

Viva Italia – and in this his bicentenary year, Viva Verdi! Tonight's concert spotlights two works completed after their composers' retirement from the musical theatre.

Verdi's extraordinary and wonderfully contrasted Quattro Pezzi Sacri (Four Sacred Pieces) range from a prayerful unaccompanied Ave Maria to the vividly-conceived, double-chorus-and-orchestra Te Deum; while his deeply-felt Stabat Mater affords intriguing comparisons with Rossini's large scale setting of the same text – dramatic, musically rich and with more than a hint of his operatic heritage – its famously ardent Cujus animam and the magnificence of the closing double fugue, unforgettable.

Tonight's sacred music is fervent, utterly sincere, and, with a fine quartet of soloists, heavenly!

Tickets: £23, £19, £15, £12, £10 (Under 25s £5, Concessions available) from Colston Hall box office in person, online or by phone (0117 922 3686)

Date: Saturday, March 23, 2013