Daniel Harding - Verdi: Sacred Pieces, Suk: Symphony n. 2 Asrael

Daniel Harding, on the occasion of his return to Rome, conducts the Cecilian premiere of the extraordinary Symphony No. 2 Asrael by the Czech composer Josef Suk (1874-1935) and the Sacred Pieces by Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901) with all their spiritual power at the Auditorium Parco della Musica.

The vast and engaging Symphony No. 2 Asrael, composed by Josef Suk in 1906 and performed in 1907 at the National Theatre in Prague, initially conceived as a celebration of the life and works of Antonín Dvořák, his teacher and father-in-law, was later dedicated to the memory of both Dvořák and his daughter Otilie, Suk's wife, who died in 1905, when the first three movements were already sketched out. Asrael is the Angel of death who appears with his scythe in the last moment of life, cutting it off, but he is also the one who guides souls towards resurrection. The work therefore expresses great suffering but also the strength to overcome it in comfort and hope. In the symphony, which is divided into the five movements Andante sostenuto, Andante, Vivace, Adagio, Adagio and maestoso, there are some quotations from Dvořák's work, including the Requiem and Rusalka.

In the last years of his career, Giuseppe Verdi returned to the sacred genre, composing, at different times and for different ensembles, four choral pieces – the Ave Maria, the Stabat Mater, the Laudi alla Vergine Maria, the Te Deum – which, at the suggestion of the publisher Ricordi, were published together in 1898 as Four Sacred Pieces. The pieces are four prayers, four meditations on the meaning of death from the point of view of the composer who, now at the end of his days, returned to a religious feeling. Three intonations out of four are dedicated to the Virgin, while one is dedicated to God.

Orchestra and Chorus of the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia; soprano Roberta Mantegna; choirmaster Andrea Secchi.

Photo credits: courtesy of Auditorium Parco della Musica