Stabat Mater

Description

A very famous work since the 18th century – Rousseau said of its first verse that it was "the most perfect and touching that has ever come from the pen of any musician" – Pergolesi's Stabat Mater was performed more than 80 times at the Concert Spirituel in Paris between 1753 and 1790. There are even numerous arrangements, including those by Bach and Hiller. In Paris, the Stabat was presented in multiple versions, probably also with the participation of a choir. After consulting several manuscripts and editions preserved at the Bibliothèque nationale de France, Julien Chauvin chose to record it with a soprano, a mezzo (soprano and contralto), and a children's choir in two parts: "the choir plays a true role in narrating this text that is so powerful and poignant," he says. This is an opportunity to reunite two iconic singers from the Alpha label, as well as the excellent Maîtrise de Radio France, of which Adèle was a member in her childhood. To complete the Neapolitan masterpiece, a "sacred" symphony by Haydn, La Passione, likely written for Good Friday – in the same key as the Stabat.