Christus (1866 Liszt), oratorio
Christus <Latin> / Christ (1866) is an oratorio by Franz Liszt (mus.).
Abstract
"Oratorium nach Texten aus der heiligen Schrift und der katholischen Liturgie, für Soli, Chor, Orgel und grosses Orchester."
Editions, performances
In Latin; was first published in 1866. Premiered in Weimar [Germany]: Herder Church, 29 May 1873.
Translations
Translated into Italian, German and Hungarian
Performance History
Various parts of Christus were performed even before the completion of the whole oratorio. The Beatitudes was conducted in 1859 at Weimar; Giovanni Sgambati conducted Part 1, The Christmas Oratorio in Rome in 1867 and Anton Rubinstein conducted The Christmas Oratorio in Vienna in 1871 with eminent support from Anton Bruckner playing the organ.
The premiere was conducted by the composer himself on 29 May 1873 in the Protestant Herder Church in Weimar.
The first recording of Christus was made in 1969 for Hungaraton, by Antal Dorati and the Hungarian State Orchestra with the Hungarian Radio and Television Chorus. Dorati’s team was: Sandor Solyom-Nagy (baritone); Veronika Kincses (soprano); Klara Takacs (mezzo-soprano); Janos B. Nagy (tenor) and László Polgár (bass).
Helmuth Rilling conducted the Gächinger Kantorei, Stuttgart; Krakauer Kammerchor and the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra. Rilling’s carefully chosen quartet of soloists are Henriette Bonde-Hansen (soprano); Iris Vermillion (mezzo-soprano); Michael Schade (tenor) and Andreas Schmidt (bass). The digital recording was taken down at the Beethovensaal Liederhalle, Stuttgart in 1997
There are other recordings by Miklós Forrai and the Hungarian State Orchestra on Hungaroton and also from conductor James Conlon with the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra
It was recorded again in 2005 by the Czech Philharmonic Choir of Brno, and the Beethoven Orchester Bonn under the direction of conductor Roman Kofman. Franziska Hirzel (soprano) Birgit Remmert (alto) Donald Kaasch (tenor) Ralf Lukas (baritone) rec. 17-19, 21-23 March 2005, Heilig-Kreuz-Kirche, Bad Godesberg, Germany
- See MusicWeb