Stabat Mater

Directed and Choreographed by Jessica Lang
Music: Giovanni Battista Pergolesi

Assistant Director: Nathan Troup

Rehearsal Assistants: Kanji Segawa, Clifton Brown, and Claudia MacPherson

Set Design: Marjorie Kellogg

Costume Design: Beth Goldberg (Glimmerglass), Bradon McDonald (Jessica Lang Dance)

Lighting Design: Mark McCullough

 

Length: 45 minutes

Number of Dancers: 9

 

This work was originally commissioned by Glimmerglass Festival and premiered in 2013. In 2017, the work was presented at Lincoln Center's White Light Festival and appeared on Jessica Lang Dance.

 

World Premiere Cast: Nadine Sierra, Soprano and Anthony Roth Costanzo, Counter Tenor  with dancers Andrea Beasom, Jason Fowler, Maurio Hines, Danny Lindgren, Anne O’Donnell, Sarah Parnicky, Elliot Peterson, and Lily Smith

“In this climate, it is a brave and interesting thing to see a contemporary artist go deep into the realm of the sacred. Taking her lead from Pergolesi's sublime "Stabat mater," Jessica Lang does not shy away from the treacherous terrain of Catholic sorrow, and the result is full of power and mastery.””

- Lauren Gallagher, DanceTabs, November 5, 2017

Link to review

 

“If you had told me that the staging of the Pergolesi Stabat Mater would be the knockout of the Festival, I might have thought you mad. However, from its rather gentle source material, the artistic team has indeed wrought a mesmerizing creation of enduring beauty, worthy of inclusion in the repertoire of the world’s ballet companies...Audience response to this unexpected jewel of a performance was immediate and vociferous.”

- James Sohre, OperaToday.com, August 13, 2013

Link to review

 

“Enough can't be said for Jessica Lang's vision of what choreographed oratorio could accomplish....Stabat Mater is a five-star one-act opera in the hands of Lang and Scappucci.”

- Gale Martin, Bachtrack.com, July 31, 2013

Link to review

 

“The poignant text is sung in Latin with English translations projected above the stage, but the direction and choreography of Jessica Lang and the performance of the dancers are so powerful that translation is almost superfluous. Lang and conductor Speranza Scappucci make every inflection, every gesture, every dynamic variation contribute to the overall impact of the production.”

- Syracuse.com, July 30, 2013

Link to review

 

“a dance-oriented rendition of Pergolesi's 1736 "Stabat Mater," directed by the choreographer Jessica Lang...The singers interacted with eight members of the Young Artists Program cast here as dancers whose movements combined gracious flow and arresting gesture.”

- Steve Smith, NY Times, July 22, 2013

Link to review

 

“one of the most extraordinary experiences an opera-goer is likely to see...The simultaneous standing ovation and vociferous applause at the "Stabat Mater's" end signalled that the audience reaction to this extraordinary creation was as unanimously positive as any audience one would expect to see.”

- Operawarhorses.com, July 21, 2013

Link to review

 

“a unique experience”

- opera.broadwayworld.com, July 21, 2013

Link to review

Performance History:

 

Glimmerglass Festivel

July 20 - August 22, 2013

 

Jessica Lang Dance

November 1-2, 2017 in New York, NY at Lincoln Center White Light

January 26-27, 2018 in Notre Dame, IN