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Das Berliner Requiem (1928) by Kurt Weill, based on poetry by Bertolt Brecht, provides evidence of the composer’s commitment to the new medium represented by the radio. A non-religious requiem, this ‘short cantata’ is designed for people who live in large cities and seeks to stimulate their ability to remember.
The desire to mix genres, cultures and people in a momentum of peace marks the Chichester Psalms (1965) that Leonard Bernstein composed for the Southern Cathedrals Festival. This eclectic work presents an arrangement of extracts from the book of Psalmsin Hebrew.
The secular and spiritual forms also mix in Gloria (1974) by John Rutter. A symphonic piece described by the composer as “inflamed, spiritual and jubilant”, the work evokes Poulenc, Stravinsky and Gregorian chants all at the same time.
Deprofundis (1980) is a very personal piece by Arvo Pärt that bears the mark of the composer’s flight from the Soviet regime. Based on the words of Psalm189, the piece is impregnated with a refined liturgical drama, characteristic of the composer.
Kurt Weill (1900-1950)
Das Berliner Requiem pour ténor, baryton, chœur d’hommes et formation instrumentale
Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990)
Chichester Psalms pour chœur mixte, garçon soprano, percussions, harpe et orgue
Arvo Pärt (1935)
De Profundis pour chœur d’hommes, percussions et orgue
John Rutter (1945)
Gloria pour chœur mixte, cuivres, percussions et orgue
Trained at the Conservatoire d’Aix-en-Provence, where he began his career under the baton of Darius Milhaud, Patrick Marie Aubert obtained a first prize in orchestral conducting in the class of Pierre Villette. He also won a prize for singing, a prize for lyric art and a prize for chamber music. He was a professor of the choral singing class and then director of the Léo Delibes Conservatory in Clichy, artistic director of the Vox Hominis vocal ensemble, musical director of the Divertimento orchestra and conductor of the choirs of the Nantes Opera. Conductor of the French Army Choir until 2000, he has participated for nearly twenty years in major national events and has conducted numerous concerts in France and abroad. He was the conductor of the Chœur du Capitole de Toulouse from 2003 to 2009, then director of the Chœur de l’Opéra national de Paris from 2009 to 2014. He has collaborated with conductors Maurizio Arena, Serge Baudo, Roberto Benzi, Marc Minkowski, Evelino Pidò, Michel Plasson, Georges Prêtre, Yutaka Sado, Jeffrey Tate… and directors Robert Carsen, Georges Lavaudant, Jorge Lavelli, Laurent Pelly, Pier Luigi Pizzi, Olivier Py, Robert Wilson…
At the Opéra de Lausanne: Orpheus and Eurydice (2019), The Tales of Hoffmann (2019), Little Red Riding Hood (2021), Candide (2022), Le domino noir (2023), Orphée aux Enfers (2023)
The Opéra de Lausanne Choir is young, made up of students of singing from Lausanne’s University of Music and the Geneva HEM, and professional singers. Its members are selected by audition and periodically reheard. For each opera, they are distributed depending on their voice and/or aptitudes. Thanks mainly to their talent on stage, supported by an infectious enthusiasm, they are highly appreciated by all the theatre directors invited. For a few years the choir has benefitted from preparation by several experienced choir masters from different backgrounds, chosen depending on the works being sung and their specific interest.