WETA Classical’s Choral Showcase starts the New Year with a few choral releases from the past year, beginning January 5 with one of Washington’s own choral ensembles, The Thirteen. Recorded in 2023 and released last year on Acis, Monteverdi: The ‘Lost’ Vespers is not a new discovery but rather a selection of music drawn from Selva Morale et Spirituale (The Moral and Spiritual Woods) and the Messa a quattro voci et salmi (Mass for 4 Voices and Psalms). Music director Matthew Robertson calls it music “that has been hiding in plain sight for the last 350 years.”
Also released in 2024 is the world premiere concert recording on Analekta of Bach’s St. Matthew Passion as arranged by Felix Mendelssohn. It’s to him we owe thanks for this work’s rediscovery; well, actually, it was his grandmother, who presented the young composer with a copy of the score on his 15th birthday. Mendelssohn managed two performances in his lifetime, but in 2023 a new scholarly edition by Malcolm Bruno received its first performance with The Bach Choir of Bethlehem and The Bach Festival Orchestra under Christopher Jackson. Mendelssohn’s version of “The Great Bach Passion” airs January 12.
Jean-Baptiste Lully, a 17th century musical pioneer and favored composer of Louis XIV wrote a Te Deum for the christening of the King’s eldest son. Its popularity boosted his profile even more, but the composer’s loose morals soon led to his fall from grace. Hoping to win back His Majesty’s esteem, he staged another performance to celebrate the king’s recovery from surgery. That event was a success, but at considerable cost: beating time with a heavy staff, Lully struck his foot and the wound became gangrenous. Rejecting his doctor’s order to amputate, fearing he’d have to give up dancing, Lully instead gave up his life just 6 weeks later. From a series of recordings from Chateau de Versailles, recorded there by The Choir of Pages and Singers of the Centre de musique baroque de Versailles under Stéphane Fuget, Lully’s Te Deum is presented January 19.
There’s French music from the 20th century on January 26 with two remarkable works of sorrow and remembrance imbued with hope: Francis Poulenc’s Stabat Mater on Aparté with Ensemble Aedes and Les Siècles directed by Mathieu Romano; and from Hyperion, Maurice Duruflé’s Requiem scored for organ and choir with The Choir of Trinity College, Cambridge under Stephen Layton.
WETA Passport
Stream tens of thousands of hours of your PBS and local favorites with WETA Passport whenever and wherever you want. Catch up on a single episode or binge-watch full seasons before they air on TV.