Valentin Kunert . Domkantorei St. Pölten

Passion music with a difference: at the opening of Holy Week, the St. Pölten Cathedral Choir broadens the musical and spiritual perspective and inspires reflection on natural disasters in addition to the Passion events.

Vocal The devastating earthquake in Lisbon in 1755 found its direct musical echo in Georg Philipp Telemann's oratorio Die Donnerode, which raises very topical questions against the backdrop of climate change. Furthermore, in Johann Sebastian Bach's cantata Ich hatte viel Bekümmernis, the St. Pölten Cathedral Choir, together with the Sindelfingen Chamber Choir, members of the Bruckner Orchestra Linz and hand-picked vocal soloists, traces how the St. Thomas cantor was able to mediate between pain, lamentation, hope and consolation in a fascinating way. Joseph Haydn's Symphony in D minor La Lamentatione joins the programme as an instrumental work, incorporating liturgical melodies from a late medieval passion play.

Under the direction of Valentin Kunert, the St. Pölten Cathedral Choir has developed a diverse repertoire ranging from 16th century a cappella literature to baroque and contemporary choral works. In co-operation with other chamber choirs and orchestras such as the L'Orfeo Baroque Orchestra and the Brno Philharmonic Orchestra, large-scale choral symphonic works are performed, most recently Joseph Haydn's Schöpfung, Johann Sebastian Bach's St John Passion and Arthur Honegger's Le Roi David.

PROGRAMME

*Georg Philipp Telemann: Die Donnerode TWV 6:3
*Joseph Haydn: Symphony in D minor La Lamentatione Hob. I:26
*Johann Sebastian Bach: Ich hatte viel Bekümmernis BWV 21

CREDITS

St. Pölten Cathedral Choir, Stuttgart/Sindelfingen Chamber Choir, members of the Bruckner Orchestra Linz

Annemarie Pfahler soprano, Maria Hegele alto, Bernhard Berchtold tenor, Alexander York bass, Günter Haumer bass, cathedral choirmaster Valentin Kunert conductor