Recording Dates: February 6, 7, 8, & 9 200
Recorded at Europalaan Kerk, Heerenveen by Skarster Music Investment C.V.
My Rose by Steve Dobrogosz
So long as men can breathe or eyes can see
So long lives this and this gives life to thee
For my beloved darling wife Katarina, my rose.
The Opus Project Choir Foundation first discovered the music of Steve Dobrogosz, an American composer living in Sweden, in 2007. That year the choir performed his two best known works, the Mass and the Requiem, which audiences enthusiastically
received. While he was attending this project (called "Opus 1") in Leeuwarden, the choir suggested that he write a much larger work, an oratorio. When he returned to Sweden, he became inspired by the beautiful, timeless texts of William Shakespeare.
Thus came My Rose into existence, a two hour long work that was composed in the space of only 4 days. The oratorio contains various musical styles, classical, jazz and musical theatre, mixed together with a touch of romance and a pinch of humor.
Steve Dobrogosz says of the piece: "Everything romantic I have ever wanted to say, I think I have said it now. It is all about love. ‘All you need is love' would be a great subtitle for this. When I wrote this, it came out all at once, I could barely write it down. That was a special feeling. When I finished it, I felt this was the best thing I had ever written."Shakespeare's sonnets, written over the course of many years, explore themes of love, beauty, politics, and the impermanence of life itself. The 154 sonnets were published in 1609Conductor Anne Sollie visited Dobrogosz in Stokholm in the summer of 2007, where he heard a digital version of My Rose. It made such a strong impression on him that he immediately decided to perform the world premiere as the Opus Project Choir's "Opus 3" project in June 2009. Upon his return to the Netherlands, plans took shape not only
to perform the work but also to record it on CD. The premiere concerts occurred in June 2009 in Groningen, Leeuwarden and Utrecht.