Evening Concert: Alessandra Pompili plays Liszt’s Via Crucis

When

26/03/2015    
19:30 - 21:15

Where

St Ann's Church
St Ann Street, Manchester, M2 7LF

Event Type

FRANZ LISZT VIA CRUCIS

Piano: Alessandra Pompili

Franz Liszt wrote the Via Crucis between 1876 and 1879. Already a minister of the Catholic Church, Liszt had been progressively absorbed by the composition of sacred works and by a quest for daring experimentations in music writing. The Via Crucis embeds both these characteristics: a profound religious feeling and a pioneering way of conceiving music (so much so that the composition was originally rejected by Liszt’ chosen publisher).

What makes the Via Crucis exceptional is the inspiration: there is written proof that the series of paintings on the Stations of the Cross made by the German artist Johann Friedrich Overbeck, whom Liszt met when living in Rome, played an important influence during the compositional process.

To re-create the interlace between music and visual inspiration this performance of the Via Crucis (here heard in Liszt’s piano transcription) will be accompanied by the projection of Overbeck’s 14 Stations of the Cross: a series of artworks currently held at the Vatican Museums but not available to the public.

Among the many performances of the Via Crucis by Alessandra are those at the Franz Liszt Museum and Academy in Budapest, Villa d’Este in Tivoli, Sheffield, Lancaster and Wrexham Cathedrals and the Vatican Museums: the latter recital, recorded live by Vatican Radio, has been chosen by the EBU to be part of the Special Music day for Holy Week and Easter 2013 and broadcast (among others) in Germany, Estonia, Romania, Bulgaria, Sweden, Greece, Czech Republic, Hungary, Portugal, Ireland, Denmark.

www.alessandrapompili.com/projects.html

The event is jointly organised by the St Ann’s Church in Manchester and Societa’ Dante Alighieri in Manchester

Admission: Tickets available at the door: £7 adults / £6 concessions / £3 students

Proceeds go to the charity Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders)