In 2006, Vladimír Godár's MATER cycle brought the Slovak composer's music to an international audience for the first time, when it was released on ECM New Series.
With the extraordinary Czech singer Iva Bittova centre-stage, the disc was praised widely. The cycle was later performed live, and complete, in 2007 and 2008 in Ludwigshafen, Bergamo, Memmingen, Berlin, Ostrava, Bratislava, Brno, Prague, Prievidza and Fribourg.
Good news is that the full-evening project now returns to Bratislava, where it's presented in the picturesque Old Market Square, as part of Viva Musica! on 28 June 2012.
Iva Bittova reprises her role as soloist in the haunting cycle for voice and chamber orchestra that comprises Godár's compositions: Stabat Mater, Magnificat, Regina coeli, Ecce puer, Maykomashmalon and Lullabies.
'Entering the world of “Mater”, Godár’s hour-long rumination on the subject of motherhood, is rather like stepping into the living continuum of music history.
Drawing you into a labyrinth of musical memories, this outstanding overview of the composer's recent work work references everything from the ancient intonational patterns of folk music and archetypal Baroque-like textures to the ghostly remembrance of a Monteverdi madrigal and startling dissonances. If this suggests that “Mater” is no more than an assemblage of cultural bricolage, this certainly isn’t the case. There’s a powerfully distinctive authorial voice at work here, and a rich arterial force courses its way through the collection…'International Record Review (Peter Quinn), March 2007
“It’s as if Janacek, Gorecki and Monteverdi have settled on a universal language. A wonderful listen.”Rob Cowan (BBC Radio 3), March 2007