Christmas Oratorio
Gulbenkian Orchestra and Choir
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Date
- 20:00 / Cancelled 20:00 / Sold out Thursday, 20:00
- 19:00 / Cancelled 19:00 / Sold out Friday, 19:00
- 19:00 / Cancelled 19:00 / Sold out Saturday, 19:00
Location
Grand Auditorium Calouste Gulbenkian FoundationPricing
- 31,00 € – 70,00 €
Single tickets
Online priority booking (Cartão Gulbenkian Mais): 29 Jun, 10:00
Online booking: 30 Jun, 10:00
25% – Under 30
10% – Over 65
Cartão Gulbenkian:
50% – Under 30
20% – Over 65
10% – 30 to 65
- Conductor
- Sofia Niklasson Soprano
- Anna Zander Mezzo-Soprano
- Susanna Sundberg Contralto
- Martin Vanberg Tenor
- Baritone
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Gulbenkian Choir
Coro Gulbenkian was founded in 1964 by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation as a full symphonic body of around 100 singers. The choir joins the Orquestra Gulbenkian and other orchestras to perform Classical, Romantic and Contemporary choral-symphonic repertoire, but can also perform a cappella. It has performed – and often premiered – many 20th century works by Portuguese and international composers.
Coro Gulbenkian has been invited to collaborate with major international orchestras, under the direction of conductors such as Claudio Abbado, Colin Davis, John Nelson, Emmanuel Krivine, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Frans Brüggen, Franz Welser-Möst, Gerd Albrecht, Michael Gielen, Michael Tilson Thomas, Rafael Frübeck de Burgos, René Jacobs and Leonard Slatkin, among others.
Besides its regular season of concerts in Lisbon and frequent national tours, Coro Gulbenkian has repeatedly toured Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, India, Iraq, Israel, Italy, Japan, Macao, Malta, Monaco, Netherlands, Spain, the United Kingdom, the United States of America and Uruguay.
Coro Gulbenkian has recorded extensively for Philips, Deutsche Grammophon, Erato, Cascavelle, Musifrance, as well as FNAC-Music, performing a wide range of repertoire, from Early-Renaissance polyphony to Xenakis. Several of these albums received international awards.
Michel Corboz was the Principal Conductor between 1969 and 2019. Jorge Matta and Inês Tavares Lopes are currently the Associate and Assistant conductors, respectively.
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Gulbenkian Orchestra
In 1962, the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation decided to establish a permanent orchestral ensemble. Originally with only twelve musicians (strings and continuo) it was named “Orquestra de Câmara Gulbenkian”. This collective was successively enlarged and today the “Orquestra Gulbenkian” (the name it has adopted since 1971) has a permanent body of sixty instrumentalists, a number that can be expanded depending on the repertoire.
This structure allows the Gulbenkian Orchestra to interpret works from the Baroque and Classical periods, a significant part of 19th century orchestral literature and much of the music of the 20th century, including works belonging to the current repertoire of the traditional symphonic orchestras. In each season, the orchestra performs on a regular series of concerts at the Gulbenkian Grand Auditorium in Lisbon, where it has had the opportunity of working together with some of leading names of the world of music (conductors and soloists). It has also performed on numerous locations all over Portugal, in an effort to decentralize music and culture.
The orchestra has been constantly expanding its activities in the international level, performing in Europe, Asia Africa, and the Americas. In the recording field, Orquestra Gulbenkian is associated to labels as Philips, Deutsche Grammophon, Hyperion, Teldec, Erato, Adès, Nimbus, Lyrinx, Naïve and Pentatone, among others, and this activity was recognized with several international prizes.
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Martina Batič
Principal Conductor
Martina Batič is one of the leading choir directors of her generation. As the winner of the renowned Eric Ericson Competition 2006, she is celebrated for her particular versatility in conducting a broad choral repertoire from chamber music to symphony.
Martina Batič has been Principal Conductor of the Chœur de Radio France from 2018-2022. Before that, she held the position of Artistic Director of the Slovenian Philharmonic Choir. From 2004-2009, Martina Batič was Artistic Director of the Choir of the Slovenian National Opera in Ljubljana. In season 2023/24 she is taking the Chief Conductor position of Danish National Vocal Ensemble in Copenhagen.
The Slovenian is a sought-after guest conductor and has been on podium of the RIAS Chamber Choir, Rundfunkchor Berlin, Chor des Bayerischen Rundfunks, MDR Rundfunkchor, SWR Vokalensemble, Chorwerk Ruhr, as well as the Eric Ericson Chamber Choir, Swedish Radio Choir, Danish National Vocal Ensemble, The Norwegian Soloists' Choir, Suomen Laulu Choir & Finnish Baroque Orchestra, Nederlands Kamerkoor, Netherlands Radio Choir, Flemish Radio Choir, Gulbenkian Choir and others.Future highlights include her return visits to Nederlands Kamerkoor, Netherlands Radio Choir, Gulbenkian Orchestra & Choir and engagements with Flemish Radio Choir, SWR Vokalensemble, Coro Casa da Musica Porto, Rundfunkchor Berlin, Zürcher Sing-Akademie, Helsinki Chamber Choir, Bachchor Salzburg among others.
Martina Batič has conducted A cappella concerts at festivals such as Baltic Sea Stockholm, Ultima Oslo, Choregies d’Orange, Montpellier, Saint-Denis and Présences Paris. In 2018 she conducted the Swedish Radio Choir & Eric Ericson Chamber Choir in a gala concert on the occasion of Eric Ericson's 100th birthday.
Martina Batič obtained her Bachelor of Music from the Music Academy of the University of Ljubljana in 2002. She continued her studies at the University of Music and Theater in Munich in the class of Prof. Michael Gläser, where she completed her master's degree in choral conducting with distinction in 2004. She attended master classes across Europe and worked with renowned choral conductors such as Eric Ericson.
In 2019 Martina Batič received the Slovenian national prize “Prešeren Fund Awards” for her artistic achievements in the field of choral conducting. -
Lars Johansson Brissman
Baritone
The baritone Lars Johansson Brissman was born in Stockholm. He studied singing at the Royal University College of Music in Stockholm and the University College of Opera in Stockholm. He has been awarded Kristina Nilsson Award, Joel Berglund Award and the prestigious Royal Swedish Academy of Music Award.
Opera engagements have included Liconte and Caronte in ORLANDO PALADINO, Plutone in Monteverdi’s L’ORFEO as well as Soldat 2 / Famigliaro 3 / Liberto / Consolo in Monteverdi’s L’INCORONAZIONE DI POPPEA at the Drottningholm Festival in Stockholm, Shaunard in LA BOHÈME and Lars-Edward in the world premiere of Carl Unander-Scharin’s HUMMELHONUNG at the Royal Swedish Opera, Parsi Rustomji and Krishna in Philip Glass’ SATYAGRAHA at Folkoperan in Stockholm as well as in Copenhagen and New York, Philip Glass’ CIRKUS DAYS AND NIGHTS at the Malmö Opera, Ricimer in André Danican Philidor’s ERNELINDE at the Gloger Festival, Anckarström in Werle’s TINTOMARA at Läckö Slottsopera, Polyphemos in Handel’s ACIS AND GALATEA in Oslo with the Norwegian Baroque Orchestra, Aeneas in Purcell’s DIDO AND AENEAS as well as Nathan in Staale Kleiberg’s DAVID AND BATHSHEBA with Trondheim Opera, Donner in DAS RHEINGOLD, Guglielmo in COSI FAN TUTTE, Baron Mirka Zeta in DIE LUSTIGE WITWE as well as Ulf and Kark in Ivar Hallströms DEN BERGTAGNA at Folkoperan in Stockholm. He has also participated in staged performances of Bach’s CHRISTMAS ORATORIO with Piteå Opera.
Lars Johansson Brissman is one of Scandinavia’s most sought-after concert singers and he is a regular guest with the major orchestras and festivals. He frequently appears throughout Europa, and he has also appeared in the U.S. and in Australia. He has an unusually wide repertoire spanning from the renaissance period to the romantic period, as well as including a large number of works by contemporary composers.
He has worked with conductors such as Martina Batič, Olof Boman, Herbert Böck, Peter Dijkstra, Bjarte Engeset, Eric Ericsson, Gary Garden, Daniel Harding, Ruben Jais, Tönu Kaljuste, Ton Koopman, Andrew Manze, Riccardo Muti, Andew Parrot, Joshua Riffkin, Morten Schuldt-Jensen, Mark Tatlow, Goos ten Napel, Jos van Immerseel and Matthew Wood.
Recent engagements include Bach’s ST JOHN PASSION in Milan with Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano and the conductor Ruben Jais, Bach’s ST MATTHEW PASSION in Leiden and The Hague with the Residentie Orkest Hague, the title role in Verdi’s MACBETH Läckö Slottsopera, Gobrias in Handel’s BELSHAZZAR in Karlstad, Bach’s CHRISTMAS ORATORIO in Stavanger, Haugesund and Kristiansand, Brahms EIN DEUTSCHES REQUIEM in Stockholm, Gothenburg, Oslo, Karlstad and Uppsala as well as in Haugesund, Bach’s ST MATTHEW PASSION in Trondheim as well as in Västerås and Bach’s MASS IN B MINOR in Stockholm.
Lars Johansson Brissman’s recordings include SYMPHONY NO. 9 with Anima Eterna, Nathan in Staale Kleiberg’s DAVID AND BATHSHEBA with Trondheim Symphony Orchestra, Duke Magnus in Ivar Hallströms DUKE MAGNUS AND THE MERMAIDS with Norrköping Symphony Orchestra, Bach’s ST JOHN PASSION with ReBaroque, Haydn’s MISSA SANCTI HIERONYMI with Ensemble Philidor and Fredrik Sixten’s ST JOHN PASSION.
Camille Saint-Saëns
Johann Sebastian Bach
John Rutter
John Gardner
David Willcocks (arr.)
Martina Batič once again conducts the Gulbenkian Choir and Orchestra in a Christmas concert, traditionally one of the highlights of the season. In 2024, the newspaper Público wrote of the Christmas concert Batič conducted during the festive season that ‘all the choruses, from mercy to fury, from joy to compassion, were highlights of the evening’. At a time of year that gives greater space to beauty, solidarity and sharing, the Christmas Concert reconnects us with the noblest aspects of the human condition.
Photo © Jorge Carmona
Sponsor Gulbenkian Music
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