DESCRIPTION:
I wanted to start the next five hundred uploads with something properly solemn, and the present piece by Verdi, written before "Otello", seems to fit this notion perfectly.

It is no secret that Verdi's compositional output decreased with advancing years, especially after the age of 70: in fact, after 1873 the very same man who has been virtually writing one opera per year, at the very least, since 1839 produced only a string quartet in E minor and the famous Manzoni Requiem which had its' premiere in Milan in 1874. These two works were followed by a gap of 14 years which culminated in the creation of "Otello" in 1886, one of Verdi's finest operas (the premiere at La Scala in 1887 actually took everyone by surprise, the cast having been sworn to secrecy).

However, this period of silence was highlighted by two pieces: a setting of "Ave Maria" for soprano and strings (1879) and a choral work, "Pater noster" (1880). They are both less operatic and more obviously religious in nature than most of Verdi's oeuvres: the latter is inspired by Palestrina and calls for a chorus of twelve hundred and ten singers, while the former, presented in this upload, uses a small string orchestra and soprano soloist in a remarkable exploration of harmonic dissonance with a lovely line of melody that seems to herald the advent of Desdemona's tearful prayer in the later "Otello". The piece begins and ends in a darker mood already established by the orchestral prelude with the strings' lines forming a background for the soprano's hushed appeal before the soloist passes onto a more involved melody of rare enlightenment, again developed and elaborated based on material from the prelude.

Cristina Gallardo-Domas offers a suitably viable reading, managing both the initially hesitant words and the later extroverted prayer. Hope you'll enjoy :).