A Holy-Week Allegory from the Imperial Court of Vienna, 1661

Описание: In the middle of the 17th century, Vienna had fallen deeply in love with opera. Lavish, theatrical productions shaped the musical life of the imperial court.

But during Lent and Holy Week, opera performances were suspended. The dramatic impulse did not disappear — it simply moved from the stage into the chapel.

During Holy Week in 1661, a sacred musical drama titled "Il pentimento, l’amore verso Dio, con il pianto delle Marie et de peccatori" was performed before Christ’s tomb at the Habsburg court.

The music was written by Antonio Bertali, one of the most influential composers and violinists of the Viennese court and maestro di cappella for two decades.

This work belongs to a fascinating tradition known as the sepolcro: devotional musical dramas performed during Holy Week in the imperial chapel. Combining the expressive language of early opera with sacred reflection, these works invited listeners to contemplate Christ’s death through allegorical and biblical characters.

Scored for voices, violins, gambas, muted cornettos, and sackbuts, Bertali’s music stands at the intersection of opera and devotion — expressive yet inward, theatrical yet contemplative.

Harmonia Stellarum Houston brings Bertali’s Sepolcro to life alongside music by Emperor Leopold I, one of the most musically gifted rulers of the early modern period:
📍 Houston — March 29
📍 Portland, Texas — March 30
Learn more about Harmonia Stellarum Houston:
https://harmoniastellarum.org

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0:00 Opera in 17th-century Vienna
0:15 Music during Lent and Holy Week
0:29 A sacred drama of 1661
0:42 Antonio Bertali at the imperial court
1:01 The story of Il Pentimento
1:22 Opera and devotion in the sepolcro tradition
1:45 Harmonia Stellarum Houston