John Studzinski remembers the moment he realised the world needed a new Stabat Mater. He was sitting in a concert hall listening to Rossini’s “chocolate box” setting of the great 13th-century hymn. As the music played on – and on – he wished that Rossini had stuck to The Barber of Seville. He decided then to commission a new Stabat Mater that would “channel the divine”, rather than opera buffa.
Studzinski, a spry 60-year-old Polish American with a full head of boyish hair, is one of London’s great patrons of the arts. In what he calls his day job, he is a senior figure at private equity giant Blackstone. The Financial Times describes him as an “über-banker” and he is extremely well connected, with ties to both Theresa May and Angela Merkel.
