Artistic Credits
Regina Coeli Choir of Lisbon
São Tomás de Aquino Ensemble
Soloists of the São Tomás de Aquino Ensemble
André Ferreira, César Gonçalves & Marta Vicente, basso continuo
Maria de Fátima Nunes, direction

Synopsis
Celebrating the 60th anniversary of the Regina Coeli Choir and the 10th anniversary of the São Tomás de Aquino Ensemble, we unite the two groups in a tribute to choral music, evoking the beginning of the Portuguese and Italian Baroque period. We propose three significant works by the composers Domenico Scarlatti (1685-1757), Antonio Lotti (1667-1740) and João Rodrigues Esteves (1700-ca.1751), thus evoking polychorality: a characteristic common to the three works - Crucifixus for eight voices, Stabat Mater for ten voices and Miserere for three choirs (twelve voices). Scarlatti and Esteves have a connection to Rome and Lisbon, where both studied, lived, and worked in the first decades of the 18th century, as part of the exchange of musicians that the royal court promoted. Possibly, the two composers coexisted in our city, at a time when sacred music proliferated in these ecclesiastical and royal environments. In turn, the work of the Venetian Lotti is one of the most masterful polyphonic pieces, reciting a part of the Creed relating to the crucifixion of Jesus. This is followed by the sequence "The sorrowful mother stood by the cross," and we will conclude with Psalm 51, "Have mercy on me, Lord," a work by João Rodrigues Esteves that is rarely performed, being a splendid piece of Portuguese Baroque, magnificent for its three-choir structure.

Program:
Crucifixus in 8 voices | A Lotti (1667-1740)
Stabat Mater in 10 voices | D Scarlatti (1685-1757)
Miserere mei to 3 choirs | J R Esteves (1700-ca.1751)