Rossini: Stabat Mater

1	Stabat mater for 2 sopran
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Rossini: Stabat Mater
1.	Stabat mater for 2 sopranos, tenor, bass, chorus & orchestra 55:32
	Composed by Gioachino Rossini
	Conducted by Riccardo Chailly
	Performed by Netherlands Radio Choir, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam, Barbara Frittoli, Sonia Ganassi, Michele Pertusi and Giuseppe Sabbatini

Barnes & Noble

Although Rossini’s Stabat Mater would never be mistaken for one of the composer’s many jovial operas, it still wears its piety rather lightly. One of only a handful of sacred scores by Rossini, it is a gorgeous setting for four soloists, chorus, and orchestra of the heartrending story of Mary before the Cross. And while it contains moments that point toward the dramatic strength of Verdi’s Requiem, it also -- Rossini being Rossini -- is filled with one beguiling and charming melody after another. This poses an interpretive challenge: In the wrong hands, the Stabat Mater can come off as an unfortunate mix of the solemn and the lighthearted. But happily, conductor Riccardo Chailly makes a perfect diplomat. He finds middle ground by not overemphasizing the blithe character of much of the music -- and thus making it sound frivolous -- while at the same time not charging the score with a dramatic burden it can’t bear. It’s also fortunate that he has the world-class forces of the Concertgebouw Orchestra at his command; their playing is superior throughout. And the Netherlands Radio Choir sings with commitment and distinction. The soloists are also strong, though certainly not A-list. Soprano Barbara Frittoli can stray from the center of the pitch when singing sotto voce, yet she is also capable of beautiful, lustrous singing, and her "Inflammatus est" is suitably stirring, with ringing high notes at the end. Lighter voiced, Giuseppe Sabbatini pulls of the lilting tenor aria "Cuius animam" in impeccable bel canto style, while bass Michele Pertusi offers a lyrical "Pro peccatis," and mezzo Sonia Ganassi supplies a touching "Fac ut portem." Standing strong alongside the worthy competition from Hickox and Chung, this is one of the most persuasive performances on disc of this wonderful but deceptively tricky music. EJ Johnson

All Music Guide

A masterpiece of nineteenth century sacred music, the "Stabat Mater" is a complex, multi-faceted work, a composition in which Rossini's melodic gift and dramatic genius truly shine. Only an exceptionally subtle performance can do justice to this work, and this performance of Riccardo Chailly conducting the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra successfully captures the essence of this work, expressing the profoundly religious spirit of the music, a spirit that shines through Rossini's beautiful harmonies and melodies. Sensitive to the many splendors of this composition, Chailly nevertheless imposes a unified interpretive conception, a conception based on the composer's fundamental intention: to express the full range of Mary's sorrow at the foot of the cross. There is an extraordinary synergy between the four soloists, the chorus, and the orchestra: under Chailly's direction, the orchestra attains a harmonic balance with the delicate textures of the voices. For example in the extraordinary "Quis est homo qui non fleret," the orchestra matches the finely nuanced expressivity and refined virtuosity of soprano Barbara Frittoli and mezzo Sonia Ganassi, whose performance blends crystalline precision and exquisite warmth. Particularly powerful is the soprano aria "Inflammatus et accensus." As Philip Gossett pointed out in the liner notes, this aria, in an inspiring performance from Frittoli, is a "choral invocation of the day of judgment" "set against the humanity of the Virgin." The four soloists are exceptionally convincing in the "Introduction (Stabat Mater)" and "Sancta Mater," attaining an extraordinary level of spiritual insight in "Quando corpus morietur," in which Rossini's crystalline harmonies and intricate chromaticism conjure up a musical image of death. Zoran Minderovic