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La Crosse area residents finally got a chance Sunday to hear a live performance of Antonin Dvorak’s “Stabat Mater,” and they responded with a standing ovation in Viterbo University’s Fine Arts Center Main Theatre.
“Stabat Mater” lived up to its billing as the biggest choral event of the arts season in the La Crosse area. A 120-member chorus made up of the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse Choral Union and La Crosse Chamber Chorale combined with a fabulous orchestra to present a glorious performance of the religious oratorio.
Paul Rusterholz, director of both choirs, staged a wonderful presentation with a beautiful choral blend combined with some outstanding soloists and a top-notch orchestra.
The 90-minute work with 10 movements was as tender as it was dramatic. The chorus sang with power and grace especially in the third and fifth movements and captured the triumphant human spirit in the final movement.
This work illustrates that Dvorak wrote brilliantly for chorus as well as for orchestra. “Stabat Mater,” sung in Latin, is about the sorrow and suffering of the Virgin Mary as she watches the crucifixion of Jesus. Dvorak wrote the work, his first religious piece, after three of his children died.
But the oratorio is his expression of grief for all who lose a child or a loved one — and all of the anguish is contained in some of the most gorgeous music. We can be grateful to Rusterholz and his choirs for taking on this challenge and pulling off something memorable.
Terry Rindfleisch can be reached at trindfleisch@ lacrossetribune.com, or (608) 791-8227.
