Mozart’s Requiem
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
Location
Grand Auditorium Calouste Gulbenkian FoundationThis concert will be broadcast live here on 23 May at 7 p.m. (GMT).
- Conductor
- Soprano
- Mezzo-Soprano
- Tenor
- Carlos Pedro Santos 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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Stephanie Childress
Conductor
Strong ideas, lucid communication and intensely focused energy are among the qualities that define Stephanie Childress among today’s most compelling conductors. Her musicianship and command of a broad scope of repertoire have already led her to establish herself on both sides of the Atlantic.
In 2024/25, Childress begins her tenure as Principal Guest Conductor of Orquestra Simfònica de Barcelona i Nacional de Catalunya with an opening concert in November conducting Strauss’ Metamorphosen and Stravinsky’s Petrushka. Future concerts with the orchestra include Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No.1 and Poulenc’s Stabat Mater with soprano Alexandra Lowe.
This season also marks a series of international returns to the Cleveland, New World, Utah and North Carolina Symphony Orchestras, as well as Konzerthausorchester Berlin, Orchestre National d’Île-de-France and Opéra Orchestre National de Montpellier. Alongside these she will debut with Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Hallé, Royal Northern Sinfonia and MDR Sinfonieorchester Leipzig. From 2021 to 2023 she was the Assistant Conductor of the St Louis Symphony under Stéphane Denève, during which she enjoyed multiple subscription concerts with the orchestra and developed strong musical ties in North America. Last season saw her debut with the National Arts Centre Ottawa, Cleveland, Detroit, Baltimore, Cincinnati and Minnesota Symphony Orchestras. She is currently the Associate Conductor of the Sun Valley Music Festival.
Inspired to pursue conducting through her love for opera, the Franco-British conductor started the 2023/24 season at the Hamburg Staatsoper conducting Die Entführung aus dem Serail and returning to Glyndebourne’s autumn season for Don Giovanni. Together they mark the latest milestone in the development of a fine Mozartian, hailed by the Guardian for the “lithe vitality” of her interpretation of Le nozze di Figaro at Glyndebourne and on tour in 2022. A passionate advocate for contemporary opera, last season also marked her debut at the Detroit Opera with Missy Mazzoli’s Breaking the Waves and the world premiere of Simon Voseček’s Ogres at the Prague State Opera.
Childress enjoys a close relationship with the French cultural scene following her second-prize win at the 2020 inaugural conducting competition, La Maestra. Since then, she has conducted Orchestre de Paris, Paris Mozart Orchestra and Orchestre de Chambre de Paris. In September 2023, following her involvement as one of the first conducting fellows of l’Académie de l’Opéra national de Paris, she made her debut at the Palais Garnier with l’Orchestre Pasdeloup for the ballet company’s opening gala.
A passionate advocate for amplifying the role of music within today’s world, Childress previously undertook a residency at the Villa Albertine, a network for arts and ideas spanning France and the United States. She is also a member of the Franco-British Young Leaders’ Program, a scheme created by the Franco-British Council to further cooperation across both sides of the Channel. Stephanie is a relentless supporter of youth music programs and is passionate about conducting, coaching, and mentoring young musicians. She is currently the artistic director of the Sun Valley Music Festival Institute and returns to the Sarasota Music Festival in June 2025.
Photo © Karolina Heller
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Ana Vieira Leite
Soprano
A laureate of the 10th edition (2021) of “Le Jardin des Voix”, Les Arts Florissants’ Academy for young baroque singers, Ana Vieira Leite recently made her highly anticipated debut at the Opéra de Paris as Créuse in David McVicar’s production of Charpentier’s Médée under William Christie followed by performances at the Teatro Real Madrid.
Other notable projects with Les Arts Florissants include Belinda in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas at Opéra Royal de Versailles, Teatro Real Madrid and Liceu Barcelona, Dalinda in Handel’s Ariodante in Paris and Versailles, Eurydice in Gluck’s Orphée et Eurydice and Messiah both at the Philharmonie de Paris. Add to this the title role in a new production of Handel’s Partenope conducted by William Christie and Paul Agnew on a huge international tour.
Ana Vieira Leite has since established herself as one of the leading young singers in the field of baroque music performing with ensembles such as as Le Concert de l’Hostel Dieu (Franck-Emmanuel Comte), Concerto 1700 (Daniel Pinteño), Divino Sospiro (Massimo Mazzeo), Los Elementos (Alberto Miguélez Rouco), Músicos do Tejo (Marcos Magalhães)… and many more.
She has been regularly invited to give concerts across Europe with Leonardo García Alarcón and his Cappella Mediterranea. Recently, she teamed up with Paul Agnew for a recital at the Cité de la Musique in Paris dedicated to opera and concert arias by Mozart.
Ana has recorded several albums with Les Argonautes (Purcell: Dido and Aeneas – Aparté), Ensemble Bonne Corde (Fiocco: Lamentationes Hebdomadae Sanctae – Ramée/Outhere) and Divino Sospiro (Avondano: Morte d’Abel – Glossa). She is also a co-founder and member of the ensemble La Néréide (Luzzaschi: Il Concerto segreto – Ricercar/Outhere).
Her first solo album “Amorosi Accenti” with Concerto 1700 dedicated to Domenico Scarlatti’s chamber cantatas has been highly acclaimed in the international press.
Ana Vieira Leite graduated from the Haute École de Musique de Genève in 2020 with a Master’s Degree in concert singing and received the “Prix de la Ville de Genève” for her outstanding work. She was awarded the First Prize in both the Concours international de chant baroque de Froville (2020) and Concurso de Canto Lírico da Fundação Rotária Portuguesa (2021).
She has received the support of the Gulbenkian, Colette Mosetti and GDA (Gestão dos Direitos dos Artistas) Foundations.
In the 2024/2025 Ana makes her debut at the Opéra Comique in Rameau’s Les Fêtes d’Hébé in a William Christie/Robert Carsen production and returns to the role of Belinda in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas under Stefan Plewniak in Madrid and Oviedo. She reunites with Les Arts Florissants for William Christie’s 80th anniversary giving concerts in New York Carnegie Hall, Versailles, Bordeaux… and for Handel’s La Resurrezione at the Philharmonie de Paris.
She also embarks on a European tour with her Ensemble Néréide, offering concerts at festivals and venues such as Festival de Musique Baroque d’Ambronay, Festival de Saint-Denis, Tage Alter Musik Regensburg, MA Festival Brugge, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, TivoliVredenburg Utrecht, Opéra de Nancy…
Photo © Jean-Baptiste Millot
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Carolina Figueiredo
Mezzo-Soprano
Carolina Figueiredo graduated from the Lisbon Conservatory of Music in 2005, after which she studied with Manuela de Sá and currently with Joana Siqueira. She was a member of the Gulbenkian Choir from 1998 to 2011.
She has performed in concert with major national choirs and orchestras, in the country’s main concert halls, such as the Gulbenkian Foundation, the Lisbon Opera House, the CCB, Coliseu dos Recreios and Porto, under the direction of Leonardo García Alarcón, Michael Corboz, Joana Carneiro, Lorenzo Viotti, Cesário Costa, João Paulo Santos, Pedro Amaral, Osvaldo Ferreira, José Eduardo Gomes, Martim Sousa Tavares and Nuno Coelho, among others.
She has taken part in several opera productions at the Lisbon Opera House, the Gulbenkian Foundation, the CCB, Teatro D. Luiz and Teatro D. Maria II, singing the roles of Madrigalista (Blimunda), Larina (Evgeni Onegin), Countess Rosina (Beaumarchais), Gertrude (Roméo et Juliette), Annina (La Traviata), Kate Pinkerton (Madama Butterfly), Licori (L'Angelica) and Assuero (Ester), among others.
She regularly gives recitals of Baroque and Romantic music and is also invited by various chamber music groups, such as Ensemble Darcos (Nuno Corte-Real), Músicos do Tejo (Marcos Magalhães), Americantiga Ensemble (Ricardo Bernardes), Ensemble MPMP (Jan Wierzba), Concerto Campestre (Pedro Castro) and Camerata Atlântica (Ana Manzanilla), with whom she has performed both in Portugal and abroad.
In August 2022, she recorded the role of Nina from Pergolesi’s "Il Frate 'Nnamorato" with the ensemble Músicos do Tejo. She has participated in productions of contemporary music, premiering and recording works by Carlos Marecos, Anne Victorino de Almeida, Nuno da Rocha, Luís Soldado, Hugo Ribeiro, Ana Seara e Jorge Salgueiro.
In parallel with her work as a musician, Carolina also pursues a carrier as a legal translator, having graduated in Law and holding a postgraduate Dip Trans qualification from the Chartered Institute of Linguists.
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Rodrigo Carreto
Tenor
The portuguese tenor Rodrigo Carreto, currently living in Zurich, is one of the laureates of the 11th edition of the "Le Jardin des Voix" academy in the 2023/24 season, sharing the stage with the French orchestra Les Arts Florissants and conductors William Christie and Paul Agnew on a tour that includes over 30 performances of Henry Purcell's opera "The Fairy Queen." This moment marks his debut at the BBC Proms - Royal Albert Hall, Teatro alla Scala in Milan, Lincoln Center in New York, Philharmonies of Paris and Luxembourg, Versailles Royal Opera, Romanian Athenaeum in Bucharest, National Auditorium of Music in Madrid, at the Lucerne (Switzerland), Tanglewood (USA), Lanaudière, and Toronto (Canada) festivals, among others.
Rodrigo Carreto was among the "2021 Bach Young Soloists" with the Collegium Vocale Gent, under the direction of Philippe Herreweghe, with whom he collaborated on numerous tours between 2021 and 2023.
Highlights of 2024 include performances such as Monteverdi's Vespers under the direction of Paul Agnew at the LAF Spring Festival, and English Divine Hymns with William Christie and Les Arts Florissants at the Lanaudière Festival in Montreal. In December, he performed Lully’s Te Deum under the direction of Vaclav Luks with the Divino Sospiro Orchestra. Rodrigo has been a regular presence as a Haute-Contre alongside Sébastien Daucé and the Ensemble Correspondances, with whom he recorded Les Maîtres de Notre-Dame. He has also recorded other CDs, including the Missa by A. Puzzi with the Bonne Corde ensemble, cantatas by G. Österreich with the Musica Gloria ensemble, Portuguese Responsorieswith the Real Câmara Baroque Orchestra under the direction of Enrico Onofri, and a song cycle by Joly Braga Santos with pianist Pedro Costa.
With a special focus on interpreting the roles of evangelist in Bach's two Passions and other works, his versatility extends beyond the Baroque, encompassing works such as Mendelssohn's "Paulus" and "Die erste Walpurgisnacht," Haydn's "The Creation," and song cycles by Finzi, Schubert, Schumann, and Debussy.
In addition to the Collegium Vocale Gent and Les Arts Florissants, Rodrigo Carreto has worked alongside other international ensembles such as the Schweizer Vokalconsort and Marco Amherd, La Capella Nacional de la Catalunya and Jordi Savall, the JSB Ensemble and Hans Christoph-Rademann, the J. S. Bach-Stiftung and Rudolf Lutz, La Cetra Barockensembles and Andrea Marcon, Chœur de Chambre Namur and Leonardo García Alarcón and La Grande Chapelle and Albert Recasens, Orquestra XXI and Dinis Sousa as well as Os Músicos do Tejo and Marcos Magalhães, performing in the most prestigious venues around the world.
Rodrigo Carreto has extensive experience on international stages and festivals in Portugal, Switzerland, Belgium, France, Germany, Austria, Poland, the Netherlands, Spain, Romania, Israel, Italy, the USA and China. Rodrigo Carreto achieved excellence when completing his master's degree in the class of Scot Weir at the Zurich University of the Arts. He furthers his musical and technical development with the British Peter Harvey and Jeremy Ovenden, after working with Barbara Hannigan, Emma Kirkby, Robert Murray, and Peter Kooij.
Some of Carreto’s 2024/25 engagements include Mozart’s Requiem with the Gulbenkian Orchestra under Martina Batič in Lisbon; Passione di Gesualdo with Les Arts Florissants at the Paris Philharmonie; Campra’s Requiem with Sébastien Daucé and Ensemble Correspondances at the Royal Opera of Versailles; and the Evangelist and arias in the Bach’s St. Matthew Passion under Thomas Gropper at the Herkulessaal in Munich.
Photo © Bruno Poeira
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Due to reasons of force majeure, Martina Batič is replaced by Stephanie Childress.
The story of Mozart’s Requiem reads like a fictional narrative. Having been commissioned to compose a Requiem in 1781 by a patron who wished to remain anonymous, Mozart set about the task while his health deteriorated. It was as if the composer was writing a mass to honour him after his death. He worked obsessively, convinced that a dark omen accompanied the composition and ended up dying before he could complete a work that would nevertheless survive in all its grandeur.
Photo © Karolina Heller
Sponsor Gulbenkian Music
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