Stabat Mater by Pergolesi | Friday 13 November

 

On 13th November 2026, beneath the soaring arches of Guildford Cathedral, crowning Stag Hill above the town, Red Events presents a luminous Guildford premiere — Giovanni Battista Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater, performed by the acclaimed Brandenburg Baroque Soloists, featuring soprano Abigail Barker and countertenor Gleb Zakharov as soloists.

 

Written in the final weeks of Pergolesi’s life and premiered after his death, Stabat Mater has long been regarded as one of the most beautiful works of the Baroque era — a piece whose emotional radiance transcends time, faith, and genre.

 

A hymn of sorrow and celestial beauty, it has inspired composers from Bach to Vivaldi, and performers from Montserrat Caballé and Barbara Hendricks to other legendary interpreters as Cecilia Bartoli, Renée Fleming, Philippe Jaroussky, Nathalie Stutzmann, and Andreas Scholl — artists whose performances over the past century have elevated Pergolesi’s masterpiece to the highest international acclaim.

 

Now, in the serene grandeur of the cathedral on Stag Hill, this profound meditation on compassion and human fragility receives a new, intimate staging — conceived specifically for the sacred acoustics of Guildford Cathedral. A subtle, carefully crafted lighting design will shape the space throughout the performance, offering a contemporary visual reading that enhances rather than distracts, illuminating the emotional and architectural depth of Pergolesi’s masterpiece.

 

This one-night-only Guildford premiere offers a rare opportunity to experience three sections of Pergolesi’s masterpiece exactly as it would have sounded in his own time — performed in the authentic Neapolitan church pitch used in 18th-century Naples, in lower, warmer tuning which lends the music a darker, more velvety colour.

 

The performance is given on period instruments by the Brandenburg Baroque Soloists — a string quintet with chamber organ, tuned to the warm historical pitch of A=415 — under the musical supervision of Bob Porter, Artistic Director of the Brandenburg ensembles, with soprano Abigail Barker and countertenor Gleb Zakharov.

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Programme

 

Giovanni Battista Pergolesi — Stabat Mater 

(Complete performance, approx. 40 minutes)

 

Additional baroque selections by Brandenburg Baroque Soloists will complete the evening