Missa Solemnis
Gulbenkian Orchestra and Choir / Matthew Halls
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Date
- / Cancelled / Sold out
Location
Grand Auditorium Calouste Gulbenkian FoundationPricing
50% – Under 30 years old
15% – Over 65 years old
- Conductor
- Lucy Crowe Soprano
- Mezzo-soprano
- Matthew Brook Bass
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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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Matthew Halls
Conductor
Matthew Halls was named Chief Conductor-designate of Finland’s Tampere Philharmonic in September 2022. He returns to Tampere this autumn to conduct Bruckner’s Seventh Symphony, before debuting with the Orchestre de chambre de Paris and Minnesota Orchestra, and continuing long-standing partnerships with the Mozarteumorchester Salzburg, Houston Symphony and Indianapolis Symphony.
Matthew regularly guest conducts the Cleveland Orchestra, Seattle Symphony, Iceland Symphony, Wiener Symphoniker, Finnish Radio Symphony, Dallas Symphony and Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra among others. Recent highlights include Mahler’s “Resurrection” Symphony with the Toronto Symphony, the US premiere of James MacMillan’s Fourth Symphony with Pittsburgh Symphony (Matthew previously conducted the world premiere of MacMillan’s European Requiem) and his Chicago Symphony debut.
With a background in period-performance, Matthew was one of the first to guest conduct Nikolaus Harnoncourt’s Concentus Musicus Wien. His discography includes Bach’s Harpsichord Concertos directed from the keyboard, the premiere recording of Handel’s Parnasso in Festa (which won the Stanley Sadie Handel prize) and Bach’s Easter and Ascension Oratorios. In the theatre, his operatic credits range from Handel’s Ariodante to Puccini’s Madama Butterfly.
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Beth Taylor
Mezzo-Soprano
Lauded for her “dark and focused” voice, “sensational coloratura”, “spectacular singing” (The Guardian) and the “intriguing depth” (MusicOMH) of her portrayals, the young Scottish mezzo-soprano Beth Taylor is establishing herself at the world’s most important opera stages and concert halls.
In the 2022/2023 season, Beth makes her role debut as Arsace in Rossini’s Semiramide at the Deutsche Oper Berlin; her house debut at the Opernhaus Zürich as Giuliano Gordio in Cavalli’s Eliogabalo, her debuts at the Berlioz Festival in La Côte-Saint-André as Ursule in Béatrice et Bénédict, at the Théâtre de Beaulieu in Lausanne as the contralto soloist of Mozart’s Requiem and at the Gulbekian in Lisbon as the contralto soloist of Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis conducted by John Nelson.
In the last three years, the mezzo-soprano has made important debuts at prestigious venues: In summer 2022, Beth made her acclaimed debut at the Glyndebourne Festival as Bradamante in a new production of Alcina. Following her house debut as La Cieca in La Gioconda, she made her debuts as Erda in Das Rheingold, Erste Norn in Götterdämmerung and Schwertleite in Die Walküre in the Deutsche Oper Berlin’s new Stefan Herheim Ring cycle under the musical direction of Sir Donald Runnicles. She also sang her first Falliero in Rossini’s Bianca e Falliero in a new production at the Oper Frankfurt, where she made her house debut as Dardano in a new staging of Handel’s Amadigi di Gaula. At the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, she performed Argia in the first performances of Giacomelli’s La Merope in modern times with La Cetra and Andrea Marcon, while at Theater Basel Beth sang the contralto solo part in a staged version of Bach’s Matthäuspassion.
Other recent engagements have led her to Madrid and Basel as Cornelia in Giulio Cesare under the baton of Andrea Marcon, to the Nancy Opera House in her role debut as Bradamante in a new production of Alcina led by Leonardo Garcia Alarcon, to the Concertgebouw Amsterdam in Mozart’s Krönungsmesse KV317, to the Aix-en-Provence Festival, where she made her festival debut in a new production of Rihm’s Jakob Lenz, to the New Generation Festival in Florence, where she appeared as Marcellina in Le nozze di Figaro, to the Opéra de Lyon as Melanto, Anfinomo and Fortuna in Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria, to the Longborough Festival as Arnalta in L’incoronazione di Poppea, to the Iford Arts Festival as Rosmira in Partenope, to the Opéra de Lyon as La Reine/Le Coucou/Le Chat in Respighi’s La belle au bois dormant, to the Grimeborn Opera Festival as Fox/Dog/Hen in The Cunning Little Vixen and to the Fife Opera as Olga in Eugene Onegin.
Beth Taylor is a graduate of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and The Open University. She is currently refining her technique under the tutelage of Jennifer Larmore and Iain Paton. Beth has participated in masterclasses with renowned artists such as Sarah Connolly, Susan Graham, Sir Thomas Allen, Sophie Daneman and Dame Emma Kirkby.
She is the winner of the 2022 Elizabeth Connell Award, 3rd prize winner of the 2019 Wigmore Hall Competition and the winner of the 2018 Gianni Bergamo Classical Music Awards.
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Toby Spence
Tenor
An honours graduate and choral scholar from New College, Oxford, Toby Spence studied at the Opera School of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. He was the winner of the Royal Philharmonic Society 2011 Singer of the Year award.
In concert Toby has sung with some of the most renowned orchestras such as the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, London Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Cleveland Orchestra, Rotterdam Philharmonic and the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia. He has appeared as a guest soloist at the Easter Festival in Salzburg and the Edinburgh International Festival. He has worked with an impressive array of conductors such as Christoph von Dohnanyi, Sir Simon Rattle, Michael Tilson Thomas, Sir Antonio Pappano, Valery Gergiev, Colin Davis, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Gustavo Dudamel, Edward Gardner, Roger Norrington and Charles Mackerras.
A prolific recitalist, Toby has given numerous solo recitals for BBC Radio 3 and at London’s Wigmore Hall and has appeared at LSO St Luke’s, Opera de Lille, at Northern Ireland Opera’s Festival of Voice, Janacek's Brno International Music Festival and Aldeburgh Festival. He has made numerous recordings for Deutsche Grammophon, Decca, BMG, Philips, Collins, Linn Records, Hyperion and EMI.
Recent concert appearances include his role debut as Hauptmann/Wozzeck with the Boston Symphony Orchestra cond. Andris Nelsons in Boston and at Carnegie Hall, a staged Christmas Oratorio at Teatro Arriaga directed by Calixto Bieito, Das Lied von der Erde with Orquestra Sinfónica do Porto Casa da Música cond. Stefan Blunier, Jack in Tippett’s The Midsummer Marriage with the LPO cond. Edward Gardner, Dvořák’s Stabat Mater , Mahler’s Das Klagendes Lied, and Mendelssohn’s Die Erste Walpurgisnacht with the Houston Symphony Orchestra, Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 at Atlanta Symphony Hall, Britten’s Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings with the l'Orchestre National de Lyon, The Seasons with the Philharmonie de Paris, Bruckner’s F minor Mass with the Sinfonieorchester Basel, Das Lied von der Erde with the Budapest Festival Orchestra cond. Iván Fischer, Liszt’s Faust Symphony with the Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg, Britten’s War Requiem with the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Orff’s Carmina Burana with the Shanghai Symphony cond. Long Yu for Deutsche Grammophon’s 120th anniversary, Jonathan Dove’s There Was A Child with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra and Beethoven 9 with the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
Operatic highlights include Aschenbach/Death in Venice for Opéra National du Rhin, Captain Vere in Deborah Warner’s Billy Budd for Teatro Real, Opera di Roma and ROH, Anatol/Vanessa for Frankfurt Opera, Don Ottavio for the Liceu Barcelona, Eisenstein/Die Fledermaus and Antonio/The Tempest for the Metropolitan Opera, Tito, Tamino and Henry Morosus/Die Schweigsame Frau for the Bayerische Staatsoper, Florestan/Fidelio for Garsington Opera and Opera North, Ghandi/Satyagraha at the English National Opera, Don Ottavio and Tito for the Wiener Staatsoper as well as Tom Rakewell and David/Die Meistersinger for Opéra de Paris. Toby’s longstanding relationship with ROH has seen him sing David/Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Tamino/Die Zauberflöte, Ferdinand/The Tempest, Count Almaviva/Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Ramiro/La Cenerentola , Tom Rakewell/The Rake’s Progress, and Essex/Gloriana.
The 21/22 season saw several role debuts including title role Parsifal for Opera North, Alwa/Lulu for La Monnaie, and Monsieur Taupe/Capriccio at the Bayerische Staatsoper, as well as Male Chorus/Rape of Lucretia for Kammerakademie Potsdam. Concert highlights included Bénédict/Béatrice et Bénédict for the Festival de la Côte Saint-André, St Matthew Passion with the Residentie Orkest in the Netherlands and Britten Les Illuminations with Teatro Filarmonico at the Arena di Verona.
Operatic plans for 22/23 include role debuts as Alonso/The Tempest for Teatro alla Scala and Erik/Der Fliegende Holländer for Teatro la Fenice. On the concert platform Toby sings Das Lied von der Erde Orchestre de Lille cond. Alexandre Bloch, St Matthew Passion for the Gulbenkian Foundation, Britten’s War Requiem with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, The Bells with the Philharmonia Orchestra cond. Stanislav Kochanovsky, and the Glagolitic Mass with the London Philharmonic Orchestra cond. Edward Gardner. Further ahead, Toby returns to the Wiener Staatsoper.
Ludwig van Beethoven
Missa Solemnis
* Due to reasons of force majeure, conductor John Nelson is replaced by Matthew Halls.
Duration 90 minutes (no intermission)“The day in which a High Mass composed by me is performed during the ceremonies solemnized for Your Imperial Highness will be the most glorious day of my life; and God will enlighten me so that my poor talents may contribute to the glorification of that solemn day.” So wrote Beethoven in 1819, upon learning of the future investiture of his patron Archduke Rudolph of Austria as Archbishop of Olmoütz. This would be the starting point for the creation of one of Beethoven’s most notable compositions and one of the most important works in the sacred repertoire.
Gulbenkian Music Sponsor
Sponsor Gulbenkian Orchestra
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