MISERERE Berlin Concert
Lamentation and hope, cries from the depths and the certainty of redemption: Peter Dijkstra, a welcome guest at the RIAS Kammerchor’s podium, closes the season by combining sacred music of the Baroque era with works from the twentieth century. As one of the most versatile and renowned choral conductors of our time, Dijkstra once again demonstrates his command of choral music from all periods as well as his instinct for coherent programme design. At the centre of the evening stands Frank Martin’s Mass for Double Choir, one of the most important and at the same time most beautiful choral works of the twentieth century. The Swiss composer wrote the Mass between 1922 and 1926, but then kept the score under lock and key for forty years. “At that time, the Mass was for me only a matter between God and myself,” Martin admitted after the work’s premiere in 1963.
Peter Dijkstra, Artistic Director of the Bavarian Radio Chorus, contrasts this personal testimony of faith and spirituality with three works that revolve around the longing for divine mercy: “Miserere mei, Deus – God, be merciful to me” – thus begins Psalm 51. In his 2009 setting of this text, Scottish composer James MacMillan transports listeners into sound worlds full of radiance and warmth; from the very first bars it is clear that the plea for mercy will be heard. Harsher and more mystical, more turbulent but no less heartfelt is the Miserere by Slovenian composer Nana Forte from 2023. The medieval poem Stabat mater tells, in dramatic fashion, of grief, loss, powerlessness, empathy and consolation: Mary standing beneath the cross of her son Jesus is filled with pain and at the same time acts as mediator between God and mortals as they implore support. Peter Dijkstra conducts Domenico Scarlatti’s magnificent ten-part Stabat mater of 1724, a far too rarely performed work of incomparable aura – music that addresses fundamental questions of human existence and finds a direct path to our hearts.
Before the concert, Justin Doyle invites the audience to the annual public workshop. All information on how to register can be found here.
The concert will be recorded by Deutschlandfunk Kultur.