Stabat Mater Gloria

Description

A pleasure to listen to a recording in which all the musicians are highlighted. First, the Viennese ensemble Bach Consort, whose wide palette of colors, precision of articulation, and vigor of attacks are particularly appreciated in the Concerto in G minor and the Sonata for Four in E-flat major that open the disc. There is a beautiful homogeneity among the sections of the Salzburger Bachchor, a powerful and flexible instrument ("Et in terra pax" from the Gloria) in the service of an inspired conductor, the Argentine Ruben Dubrovsky. Soprano Hanna Herfurter and mezzo Joowon Chung, with their well-matched timbres, give us a very seraphic Gloria. However, despite the excellence of all these performers, the true star of this disc is Andreas Scholl. The authority of his projection, the infinite resources of his legato (Adagio from the rare "Filiae Maestae Jerusalem"), and perhaps, among all the countertenors currently active, the most beautiful and natural timbre, leave us in awe during an anthological Stabat Mater. The sound recording captures the sumptuous acoustics of the Abbey of Klosterneuburg. A beautiful panorama of the best Vivaldi, in a magnificent interpretation.