NSOI: Music for Good Friday

National Symphony Orchestra Ireland
Jiří Rožeň, conductor 
Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha, soprano 
Niamh O’Sullivan, mezzo-soprano 
Valentyn Dytiuk, tenor
Ashley Riches, bass
National Symphony Chorus Ireland
David Young chorus director

Dvořák Stabat Mater

A profoundly moving choral masterpiece for Good Friday with Czech music specialist Jiří Rožeň conducting National Symphony Orchestra Ireland, National Symphony Chorus Ireland and four exciting young soloists.

Moving from sorrow and despair to spiritual consolation and hope, Dvořák’s Stabat Mater is a work of immense depth and feeling imagining the suffering of the Virgin Mary at the Crucifixion.

Composed in the devastating aftermath of the loss of three children, Dvořák poured his grief and the solace of his faith into the Stabat Mater. The result is intimate and monumental, desolate mourning and emotional intensity resolving in the transcendent consolation of its end.

The composer’s fellow countryman and celebrated interpreter of Czech music, Jiří Rožeň, makes his debut on the podium with National Symphony Orchestra Ireland. The soloists are BBC Cardiff Singer of the World Competition Song Prize-winner, soprano Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha, ‘very much on the rise’ (OperaWire), mezzo-soprano Niamh O’Sullivan, ‘dark and luminous’ (Classique News) tenor Valentyn Dytiuk, and ‘luxurious’ (Telegraph) baritone Ashley Riches.

Presented by NCH