Two countertenors for Pergolesis Stabat Mater: this is the resurrection of the first performance in France of this work, introduced by two Italian Castratos from the Royal Chapel of Louis XV, who were enthusiastic propagators of it both at Court and at the Concert Spirituel. Paris was conquered and saw in it the revolutionary mark of a Neapolitan genius, who alas passed away so young. Pergolesi, shortly before his death at the age of 26 and affected by illness, expressed the Virgins suffering with the language of passion more typical of opera.

These Stabat maters represent a deep-rooted exploration of the solemnity of the sacred and the operatic aspect of musical writing, both in the sombre and plaintive tonality of F minor. Comparing these masterpieces, that of Antonio Vivaldi (1712) and that of Giovanni Battista Pergolesi (1736), allowing them to resonate in the acoustics of the Royal Chapel of the Château de Versailles, just as they could have been heard in the 18th century, inspires and awakens a desire for balance between internalised faith – spirituality, and externalised faith – splendour. Pergolesi's work was very popular in France. Given on the occasion of the feast of the Virgin, the Stabat mater dolorosa is based on a 13th century liturgical text by Jacopone da Todi, reintroduced by Pope Benedict XIII in 1727.