Calgary’s Juno-nominated, professional chamber choir Luminous Voices continues its tradition of Good Friday performances at the Bella Concert Hall on Friday, April 15 presenting, Allegri’s Miserere & Togni’s Lamentations of Jeremiah.
Audiences will be treated to a considerably more ornamented edition of Allegri's famous Miserere in the shorter first half which also includes several highlights of the Renaissance with works by Byrd, Lasso & Morales. The second half features Canadian composer Peter-Anthony Togni’s Lamentatio Jeremiae Prophetae (Lamentations of Jeremiah) with guest artist, Jeff Reilly on bass clarinet.
Italian composer Gregorio Allegri’s Miserere Mei is a setting of Psalm 51, composed in the 1630's for exclusive use in the Sistine Chapel during the Tenebrae services of Holy Week. Once forbidden to be transcribed and used elsewhere, Miserere Mei is now one of the most popular choral pieces of the early Baroque-era.
Togni's Lamentatio bridges sacred choral music with expressive improvisational gestures. This substantial work mirrors the conflicts of today, conveying the story of Jeremiah’s prophecies of the impending destruction of Jerusalem at the hands of the Babylonians, with the choir providing the crowd scenes and the bass clarinet as the voice of Jeremiah. Togni’s idea originated from a request by bass clarinet player Jeff Reilly who was keen to explore a concerto in which dramatic narrative events would be enacted through improvisation. Both Peter Anthony Togni and Jeff Reilly will be in Calgary with Luminous Voices for rehearsals and the performance. This will be Togni’s first visit since the triumphant premiere of his Sea Dreams by Luminous Voices in 2018.
William Byrd’s famous Ave Verum Corpus will open the program, conducted by Assistant Conductor Gloria Wan.
"It will be a treat to have Peter-Anthony Togni back with Luminous Voices after such wonderful successes in our commissioning and recording over the past years,” says Luminous Voices’ Artistic Director, Timothy Shantz. “This performance was delayed due to the pandemic but I am certain that the music is needed even more now, in what Peter-Anthony Togni describes as, 'a union of unspeakable grief with an unquenchable hope.'"
The concert will be presented in both in-person and live-stream at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, April 15, 2022 at the Bella Concert Hall, Taylor Centre for the Performing Arts, Mount Royal University (18 Mount Royal Circle SW, Calgary).
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