Virgin territory

Victoria Kelly's new magnum opus reinterprets Mary's response to the crucifixion.

- by RICHARD BETTS

Victoria Kelly is a glamorous woman, but when I bump into her on the street, she looks as if she hasn't slept for weeks.

"I did it," she says, her voice equal parts jubilation and exhaustion. "I handed it in yesterday." "It" is Stabat Mater, a major piece for choir and orchestra commissioned by the NZSO as a response to Rossini's own Stabat Mater (literally: "the mother was standing"). The works are being performed together in Wellington and Auckland early next month.