“Giovanni Battista Pergolesi completed his Stabat Mater at the age of 26, only a few weeks before his premature death in 1736, and it would become one of the most influential sacred works of the entire 18th century. Its popularity is indicated by the innumerable revisions carried out on the composition by other composers (among them Johann Sebastian Bach in around 1745). In the 1790s in Vienna, a one-time pupil of Mozart named Joseph von Eybler rearranged the score – which was originally written... only for soprano, alto and strings – for four voices, i.e. four singing soloists and a four-part chorus, at the same time significantly increasing the number of accompanying musicians. Further changes to the instrumentation were carried out by Ignaz Ritter von Seyfried, and several decades later by Otto Nicolai. Thus it was that an extraordinary version of the work came into being which will now be performed by us for the first time in Hungary. Joseph Haydn came to know Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater sometime in the 1750s, presumably in Vienna. The work would go on to have a huge impact upon his entire career: the influence of Pergolesi can be demonstrated in almost every moment in the key of F minor of Haydn’s oeuvre, not only in his vocal work but also in his symphonies. When he wrote his own Stabat Mater in 1767, it was Pergolesi’s work that served as the primary model. Johann Adolph Hasse wrote a letter in praise of this Haydn score, of which the composer would remain very proud for the rest of his life. At the same time, the Stabat Mater – primarily through its performances in Paris – was one of the compositions on which Haydn’s reputation as a composer in Europe would come to be based. Our concert bears the title of Les deux Stabats, recalling the billing of the church concerts in Paris in the 1780s where the Stabat Mater compositions of Pergolesi and Haydn were heard one after the other in one evening’s performance. The popularity of these concerts was quite extraordinary at the time, and, although the organisers did all they could to find other “contemporary” versions of the Stabat Mater to insert into these concert programmes, Haydn’s work alone was able to maintain its popularity for an extended period alongside the brilliant opus by Pergolesi. With this performance in the Béla Bartók National Concert Hall, we aim to evoke the memory and atmosphere of these Parisian concerts in the last decade before the Revolution. (György Vashegyi)
Parking information
We wish to inform you that in the event that Müpa Budapest's underground garage and outdoor car park are operating at full capacity, it is advisable to plan for increased waiting times when you arrive. In order to avoid this, we recommend that you depart for our events in time, so that you you can find the ideal parking spot quickly and smoothly and arrive for our performance in comfort. The Müpa Budapest underground garage gates will be operated by an automatic number plate recognition system. Parking is free of charge for visitors with tickets to any of our paid performances on that given day. The detailed parking policy of Müpa Budapest is available here.
Safe ticket purchase
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