Dvořák wrote the piece in 1876-77 in response to the deaths of three of his children, using the traditional Medieval Latin poem on the subject of Mary's sorrow over Christ's death. Dvořák's poignant and dramatic setting expresses a heartfelt, personal experience of grief via the four solo roles, and its universality through the power of the chorus and orchestra. The BSO has only performed this work in its entirety on two previous occasions: under Seiji Ozawa in 1980, and in a single performance in Louisville, Kentucky, led by Arthur Nikisch in 1891.If you are going to be giving the performance close attention, I recommend going to the link for the program notes where you can find the text, as well as a description of the music. But I think it can also work if you are listening without knowing the exact words, just with the idea of what it is about in general, and realizing that he was writing it shortly after the deaths of his three young children.
Both the Globe and the Musical Intelligencer have reviews that point out minor flaws in the performance while overall quite favorable. I was there and probably tried too hard to follow word for word, rather than taking in the overall experience of each section. It was high on my list of concerts to hear this season, and I'm glad I was there. One of the basses in the chorus has a blog, and earlier in the week he said a couple of things about it. One was that it is the saddest piece of choral music he knows — not just making musical gestures of sadness, but truly sad in spirit throughout until the closing lines. He also said that the chorus had to learn that pp is not mezzoforte. There were a couple of spots in the early going where it seemed that the orchestra was playing mezzoforte and drowning out the chorus's properly executed pp. As for being sad throughout, I didn't hear it that way. It was very sad in the beginning sections, but didn't seem to me to maintain that degree of sadness all the way through. Maybe you'll hear what he meant about it.
This is one I definitely recommend. (In addition to being great music, it can help you get in the mood for Lent, if you need or want any help in that area.) As always, WCRB presents it live with coverage beginning at 8:00 p.m., and there will be a rebroadcast at 8:00 on Monday, March 11. (On the 4th, they will replay last week's "Suor Angelica.)
The Thursday concert began with a performance of "Nimrod" from the Enigma Variations by Elgar, which was added in memory of André Previn, who had died earlier that day. I don't know if they'll play it again this evening.
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