The "Bells of Sophia" organ music festival in Polotsk will open with a famous Italian cantata and new names
Stabat Mater narrates the suffering of the Virgin Mary during the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and is distinguished by its particular poignancy. According to legend, the composer's personal drama served as his inspiration. His beloved, whose marriage his parents did not consent to, entered a convent and soon died.
While composing the music, the author looked at an image of the Madonna that bore a striking resemblance to his beloved, and could not bring his work to perfection. He made revisions to the piece, later recognized as one of the masterpieces of world musical culture, until the last days of his life, which ended at the young age of 25.
Under the vaults of Saint Sophia Cathedral, Stabat Mater will be performed along with other works of Italian music at the grand opening of the festival. Soloists of the National Academic Grand Opera and Ballet Theatre of the Republic of Belarus, Tatyana Gavrilova and Natalia Akinina, as well as Polotsk organist Ksenia Pogorelaya and the chamber orchestra "Europe-Center" under the direction of Rail Sadykov, will delight the audience with their talents on this day.
This year, as noted by Elena Martynova, head of the concert department of the National Polotsk Historical and Cultural Museum-Reserve, the music festival will introduce new performing artists who will be appearing in Belarus for the first time.
With the support of the Embassy of Sweden, organist Jörgen Lindström will come to Polotsk. In collaboration with the Goethe-Institut in Minsk, a concert by Nikolai Gershak from Germany has been organized. Russia will be represented by Anastasia Bykova and Tamara Egorova, the Netherlands by Albert Visserhof, and Poland by Józef Katowicz, president of the Białystok Association Musica Sacra.