St. Matthew's Passion
Gulbenkian Orchestra and Choir
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Date
- / Cancelled / Sold out
Location
Grand Auditorium Calouste Gulbenkian FoundationPricing
- 26,00 € – 58,00 €
25% – Under 30
10% – Over 65
Cartão Gulbenkian:
50% – Under 30
15% – Over 65
- Coro Infantil da Universidade de Lisboa
- Conductor
- Johanna Zimmer Soprano
- Diana Haller Mezzo-soprano
- Falco van Loon Tenor
- Tenor
- Florian Just Baritone
- Hugo Oliveira 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
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. -
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.
Johann Sebastian Bach
After conducting the magnificent St Matthew Passion at the Grand Auditorium in 2023, Slovenian Martina Batič returns to this oratorio by J.S. Bach, now as Principal Conductor of the Gulbenkian Choir. A masterpiece of spirituality and humanism, dealing with the suffering and death of Jesus Christ, the play is perfect for exposing Batič’s artistic stance, the fruit of an intense conviction that listening and caring for others are increasingly urgent in a world threatened by noise and a lack of empathy. An example of when music carries higher values in its notes.
Sponsor Gulbenkian Music
The Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation reserves the right to collect and keep records of images, sounds and voice for the diffusion and preservation of the memory of its cultural and artistic activity. For further information, please contact us through the Information Request form.