The work is performed alongside Brahms’s German Requiem, with Sir Simon Rattle at the conductor’s podium.
Written in 1926, Szymanowski’s Stabat Mater is one of the most important works of 20th-century Polish music. The performance in London also features the London Symphony Chorus, Polish soloists, soprano Iwona Sobotka and mezzo Hanna Hipp, as well as Austrian baritone Florian Boesch.
The London Symphony Orchestra writes on its website: “Sir Simon Rattle explores intensely personal choral music by Szymanowski and Brahms – music that transforms sorrow into pure sonic beauty.”
The website describes the atmosphere of the Stabat Mater as “heady and intoxicating”, adding that both pieces, by Szymanowski and Brahms, “have a very special place in Sir Simon Rattle’s heart.”
The concert is repeated on Sunday.
(mk/tf)