Stichting Millenniumconcert met Dvořáks Stabat mater

Millennium Concert Foundation

The Millennium Concert Foundation (SMC) is a unique collaboration between Koorvereniging Bergen, Oratoriumkoor Schagen, Castricumse Oratorium Vereniging, and the North Holland Accompanying Orchestra. All choirs and the orchestra have been led with great dedication for over fifty years by choir and orchestra conductor Pieter-Jan Olthof, which benefits the musicality and harmony. Since the year 2000, they have performed a work together in the Concertgebouw every four years.

Stabat Mater by Dvořák

The Stabat Mater is a full-length masterpiece by the Czech composer Antonín Dvořák. The text of the Stabat Mater is attributed to the Franciscan monk Jacopone da Todi and was written around 1300. At that time, people realized that Christ died for the salvation of humanity, and thus also for Mary. That she saw her Son die standing by the cross must have evoked conflicting feelings in her. Dvořák succeeded in making the Stabat Mater a richly nuanced and varied work. It is sincere in its emotions, ranging from intimately pure to realistically heartbreaking, from deeply melancholic to a prayer for solace. The Stabat Mater is truly a choral work; the contribution of the choir is significant.