UC Davis Baroque Ensemble Performs Influential Works
The UC Davis Department of Music’s Baroque Ensemble presents La Serva Padrona and Stabat mater by Pergolesi. Directed by Phebe Craig and Michael Sand, the performance features soloists Marguerite Krull, soprano, and Chris Fritzsche, alto.
The performance takes place at 8 pm on Friday, May 9, in the Studio Theatre of Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts. Tickets—$12 for adults and $6 for students and children—are available online at MondaviArts.org, by phone at 530-754-ARTS (2787) or 866-754-ARTS (toll-free), or at the door. Accommodations for persons with disabilities are available upon request.
In his brief working career, Giovanni Battista Pergolesi, one of the greatest of Neapolitan composers, composed two pieces that have remained supreme in their genres: La Serva Padrona among comic operettas, and the Stabat mater among liturgical works. He died at 26: a composer—like Mozart—who would have further transformed music had he lived longer. The Stabat mater, which (like Mozart’s Requiem) was composed in the final weeks of the composer’s life, is one of the most revolutionary compositions of the first third of the 18th century. It is a work that foreshadows the development of the classical style in the music of Gluck, Haydn, and Mozart. Though not well known during his lifetime, Pergolesi’s genius was recognized throughout Europe soon after his death. One index of the extent of his posthumous reputation is the immense number of works erroneously attributed to him. Another is that within five years of his death, J.S. Bach transcribed the Stabat mater, giving it a Lutheran text—Bach’s habitual way of studying works of genius when he wanted to absorb their compositional style.
For complete event information, to receive a Department of Music season brochure, or to join the department mailing list, call 530-752-0948 or visit music.ucdavis.edu/events.