GÁBOR HOLLERUNG, conductor 

 

Programme: 

Georg Friedrich Händel: La Resurrezione, oratorio, HWV 47

 

Magnificent, full of baroque pathos and intense emotions, deeply pious, lavish in the sound of a large ensemble composed of an orchestra and soloists, solemn and moving! The youthful oratorio La resurrezione (The Resurrection) by German genius Georg Friedrich Händel is all this and much more! Composed a few years after a series of severe earthquakes that struck Rome in 1703, which were interpreted as a sign of God’s impending apocalypse due to increasing immorality, impiety and debauchery, Pope Clement XI saw The Resurrection oratorio as "a sublime work that will contribute to the return of true religiosity and help in the fight against moral sinking”. However, the Pope was angered by the fact that Händel entrusted the most important role to a woman, singer Margherita Durastanti (Mary Magdalene), so immediately after the first performance, the singer was replaced by the famous castrato Filippo.  It also bothered him that the oratorio was almost indistinguishable from an opera! It is the dramatic nature of the plot and deep immersion in the biblical events preceding God's miracle, in which, along with Mary Magdalene, we also meet St. John, Mary Cleophas, an angel, but also Lucifer, that give this unique work incredible energy, persuasiveness and lasting value! Beautiful baroque arias, masterfully powerful choirs, instrumental interludes in which we are intoxicated by the smell of baroque violin resin and the sweet sound of harpsichord, dance movement of baroque royal courts, dramatic echoes of the Passion, sublime and joyful sounds of the Resurrection – we will enjoy all this interpreted by young, talented and full-blooded musicians, students of the Zagreb Academy of Music under one of the best Hungarian conductors and chorusmasters – Gábor Hollerung. Is there a better opportunity to enjoy the sublime, sad and joyful moments of great biblical events than this celebration of sound offered by Handel’s Resurrection?