May

24

Soli Deo Gloria in Russia

Filed Under Project Uplift Russia 2007, Concerts | Leave a Comment

Ekaterinburg, RussiaIn October 2007, Soli Deo Gloria will take its musical mission deep into Eastern Europe in sponsoring performances of Gabriel Faure’s Requiem and Anton Bruckner’s Te Deum, in the city of Ekaterinburg, Russia. The Sverdlovsk State Philharmonic will present two performances under the direction of American conductor Alan Heatherington. The project follows Soli Deo Gloria’s 2005 collaboration with the Russian orchestra presenting Verdi’s Requiem.”

The performance of these choral pieces will be an important cultural event in the life of Ekaterinburg and this region”, commented orchestra General Manager Alexander Kolotursky and Artistic Director Rustem Khasanov, “It will attract a large public to hear selections from the best pages of the classical choral music repertoire.”

Project Uplift is a series of concert sponsorships intended to encourage presentations of major sacred works in world regions where such productions are difficult to mount. The series began in China in 1996. Working in cooperation with the General Motors Corporation and the Chinese Cultural Institute, Soli Deo Gloria assisted two performances of Brahms’ Ein Deutsches Requiem with the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra and Philharmonic Chorus—the first performances of Brahms’ Requiem in the history of China. Subsequent sponsorships have assisted concerts in Ukraine, Russia, Armenia and, most recently, Costa Rica.

Alan HeatheringtonAlan Heatherington will lead the Sverdlovsk State Philharmonic in performances on Friday and Saturday, October 26 and 27, 2007. Further information will be announced later this year.

May

16

Philadelphia Inquirer hails Mass in B Minor DVD

Filed Under Bach: Mass in B Minor, Reviews, Recordings | Leave a Comment

Mass in B Minor DVDThe Philadelphia Inquirer recently hailed the Soli Deo Gloria-sponsored DVD of Bach’s Mass in B Minor as “one of the best ever.” The recording includes the performing forces of the Ensemble Orchestral de Paris, an “all-star lineup” of soloists including Joyce DiDonato and Dietrich Henschel and the Maitrise Notre-Dame de Paris, who sing “with an electricity born of conviction” under the direction of John Nelson. Click here to read the Philadelphia Inquirer article. The DVD is available for purchase at www.SDGmusic.org/Recordings.

May

4

Rouse Requiem: The Reviews are in…

Filed Under Rouse: Requiem, Reviews, Commissions | Leave a Comment

rouserequiempremiere.jpg

Christopher Rouse’s Requiem takes center stage in Los Angeles

On March 25, 2007, Christopher Rouse’s Requiem received its premiere performance before an audience of over 2,000 in Los Angeles’ Walt Disney Concert Hall. The Los Angeles Master Chorale along with the Los Angeles Children’s Chorus and baritone Sanford Sylvan presented this monumental work, which is Soli Deo Gloria’s largest commissioned work to date.

The Los Angeles Times wrote, “Rouse’s is the first great traditional American Requiem . . . Grant Gershon, the Master Chorale’s music director, became the first to rise to Rouse’s challenge of raising the rafters. And that he did Sunday, with trumpets pealing to summon the dead or, when God is described in all His majestic glory, with percussion storming the land and the chorus describing the indescribable. But under it all is a magnificent lyricism, which is the real Berlioz influence. Small, seemingly unimportantly melodic or rhythmic details swell into wildly unpredictable castles of glory.” Click here to read the L. A. Times review.

“This is a Requiem that sets a standard for composers of the future while holding its own against compositions of the past,” was the statement made on the contemporary classical music community website Sequenza 21. Click here to read the Sequenza 21 review.

The Orange County Register said of Rouse’s work, “One can hardly take in a work of this magnitude on a single hearing, but its trajectory is headlong, the energy of its invention unabated throughout.” Click here to read Orange County Register review.

For more information on the Requiem and Christopher Rouse, please visit the links below.

photo: Lee Salem Photography, Inc.