Andris Nelsons conducts Dvořák Stabat Mater

Andris Nelsons leads the BSO, Tanglewood Festival Chorus, and four internationally acclaimed soloists in Antonín Dvořák’s Stabat Mater, the first major religious work by the great Czech composer, who was a pious Catholic. Dvořák wrote the piece in 1876-77 in response to the deaths of three of his children, using the traditional Medieval Latin poem on the subject of Mary’s sorrow over Christ’s death. Dvořák’s poignant and dramatic setting expresses a heartfelt, personal experience of grief via the four solo roles, and its universality through the power of the chorus and orchestra. The BSO has only performed this work in its entirety on two previous occasions: under Seiji Ozawa in 1980, and in a single performance in Louisville, Kentucky, led by Arthur Nikisch in 1891.