Review: Dvorak’s Stabat Mater, Hong Kong Arts Festival – profound rendering of the anguish of Christ’s mother

Expressions of grief can take many forms. For a parent who loses a child, this is heartbreaking, but to lose multiple children, this is unfathomable. Such was the fate of Czech composer Antonin Dvorak, who suffered the inconsolable loss of three of his children. Although no conclusive evidence exists, it seems plausible that his decision to pen the oratorio was his means to express this grief.

He used the anonymous 13th-century text Stabat Mater for his setting, dispensing with his familiar Bohemian folk elements in favour of a dark outpouring of extraordinary magnitude. Many composers before – including Josquin des Prez, Palestrina, Pergolesi, Haydn, Rossini and Verdi – and many after – Penderecki, Poulenc and Pärt – had used the text, but none approaches the length nor the emotional scope that we see here.

Dvorak uses the text in a repetitive manner such that the music takes precedence, with emotional pain and tenderness at its core.

The libretto represents the Virgin Mary’s vigil at the crucifixion of Jesus, confirming Dvorak’s deep religious conviction.

One of the earliest performances of the work was in April 1882, conducted by the Czech composer Leos Janacek in Brno. How fitting it is then to have the Orchestra and Chorus of the Janacek Opera of the National Theatre Brno here to perform it.

Dvorak utilises a standard romantic-sized orchestra, chorus and soloists, but the setting is more meditative than operatic. He divides the text into 10 sections, essentially alternating between the grander choruses and the more intimate solos. Success of the work depends on the quality of the choruses, the projection, sensitivity and poignancy of the soloists, and the ensemble’s ability to lend depth to its solemnity.