CHORUSES OF LADIES

Journey to Europe: sacred and profane in women's 19th century chamber music

The Women’s Chorus of the Teatro Comunale di Bologna, accompanied by organ, harp and horns in a unique chamber ensemble, brings to life a fascinating musical journey that interweaves the sacred and the profane.

A “trip to Europe” among the most representative composers of the 19th and early 20th centuries: from the Hungarian suggestions of Liszt to the French elegance of Saint-Saëns and Fauré, via Rheinberger of Liechtenstein, English Holst, German Jenner and Korngold, an Austrian naturalized American.

Through universal themes such as unrequited love, the human-nature relationship, the consolation of prayer and Eastern exoticism, the concert offers a refined and engaging musical proposal, enhanced by the delicacy of the female voices and the stylistic variety of the composers. An unmissable appointment to discover a rare and evocative repertoire.

Choirmaster

Gea Garatti Ansini

Women’s Chorus of the Teatro Comunale di Bologna
Soloists
Lucia Michelazzo
Chiara Salentino
Tenor soloist
Cristobal Campos Marin
Organ
Wei Jiang
Harp
Lucia Stone
Horns
Alessio Ferroni first horn
Federico Brandimarti second horn

Feb. 1 | H 18.00
Archiginnasio Municipal Library – Stabat Mater Room

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Feb. 2 | H 6 p.m.
Budrio Consortium Theater

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FREE EVENTS WITH RESERVATIONS REQUIRED

PROGRAM

Erich Wolfgang Korngold

Prayer op.32 for tenor solo, women’s choir, harp and organ

Gustav Jenner

Meeresleuchten for women’s choir and harp

Camille Saint-Saëns

Ave Maria for women’s choir and organ

Johannes Brahms

Vier Gesänge op.17 for women’s choir, 2 horns and harp

Gabriel Fauré

Cantique de Jean Racine op.11 for women’s choir and organ

Messe Basse for soloist, women’s choir and organ

Franz Liszt

Hymne de l’enfant à son réveil from Harmonies poétiques et réligieuses III s173 for solo, women’s chorus, harp and organ

Gustav Holst

2 Eastern Pictures for female choir and harp

Joseph Gabriel Rheinberger

Wie lieblich sind deine Wohnungen for women’s choir, harp and organ

WOMEN’S CHORUS OF THE MUNICIPAL THEATER OF BOLOGNA

Among the most renowned choral companies on the international scene, its conductors have included Gaetano Riccitelli, Leone Magiera, Fulvio Fogliazza, Fulvio Angius, Piero Monti, Marcello Seminara, Paolo Vero, Lorenzo Fratini, Andrea Faidutti, Alberto Malazzi, and since 2021 Gea Garatti Ansini. Numerous recording productions, including La Favorita, Macbeth, Manon Lescaut, Rigoletto, La Cenerentola and Rossini’s Messa Solenne . Numerous appearances abroad include Amsterdam (1987), Wiesbaden (1994), Japan (1993, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2011, 2017), Savonlinna (2006), Santander (2008), Muscat (2015), and Paris (2018). In 2001 he participated in Verdi’s Messa da Requiem at London’s Royal Albert Hall for the BBC Proms Festival with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and conducted by Daniele Gatti. In June 2019 the Chorus will again tour Japan (Osaka, Tokyo, Yokohama, Fukuoka), with Rigoletto directed by Alessio Pizzech and Il barbiere di Siviglia directed by Federico Grazzini.

Of significant importance was his return to the Rossini Opera Festival from 2009 to 2016, during which in 2011 he participated in Moses in Egypt directed by Graham Vick and conducted by Roberto Abbado, a production that won the “Abbiati” award as best performance of the year.

In 2017, the Chorus participated in the Parma Verdi Festival in Graham Vick’s Traviata and Stiffelio, staged at the Teatro Farnese and awarded the “Franco Abbiati” Special Prize.

The Chorus’ fall 2019 engagements for the Verdi Festival include Luisa Miller at the Church of San Francesco del Prato in Parma and Aida at Teatro Verdi in Busseto.

In 2019, the Municipal Theater’s production of Graham Vick’s La bohème won the Abbiati Prize for best performance.