The market is loaded with recordings of Pergolesi's beautiful, graceful "Stabat Mater" and there are also plenty of versions of both "Salve Regina" selections to choose from. The young Pergolesi, who died at age 26, had a flair for the theater and the "Stabat Mater" was often accused of being too operatic. Fabio Biondi presents it (and the other two pieces) without much sentimentality and he uses a vastly reduced orchestra–a mere three violins, viola, cello, double bass, and theorbo (and organ)–which brings the stark religiosity to the forefront. That is not to say that these pieces aren't sensual as well; soprano Dorothea Röschmann's mesmerizing, warm tone and David Daniel's flawless, forwardly placed countertenor are lush enough to create drama of their own. And Biondi chooses tempi that are quick enough to give each movement thrust while lingering on Pergolesi's dissonances effectively. The two "Salve Regina" selections are scored for one voice each and each soloist shines brightly. Among the many versions of these works, this new set stands out.

–Robert Levine

Agostino Steffani, roughly contemporary with Arcangelo Corelli, worked mostly in Germany and was known across the continent for his operatic music. Some of it was championed by mezzo soprano Cecilia Bartoli on her daring Mission album. Now Bartoli, properly more in the background as part of a sacred-music ensemble, returns with an album of Steffani's religious music, for which he was equally renowned. She joins a group of fine soloists, many of whom will be familiar to early music devotees and quite worthy of the broader audience association with Bartoli and the major Decca label will bring. The vigorous instrumental ensemble I Barocchisti, its leader Diego Fasolis, and the commendably sizable Swiss Radio Choir are all top-notch.

Valentin Silvestrov composed Requiem for Larissa between 1997 and 1999 as a memorial to his wife, musicologist Larissa Bondarenko, who died in 1996. It is a big and unceasingly somber work, scored for chorus and orchestra. Understandably, this Requiem is to a degree reflective, incorporating musical themes drawn from older works that had special meaning to the couple. While Silvestrov's typically glacial tempos are in evidence here, some of the opening half of the piece has an angular spikiness that recalls serial techniques without actively engaging in them. Instrumentally, Requiem for Larissa is dark, atmospheric, and even a little cinematic; the choral parts are sparse and minimally applied. In the fourth-movement Largo, the voices take over and settle down into an ethereal texture that leavens the gloom somewhat, but by this time 25-and-a-half minutes have gone by and some listeners will have already tuned out owing to the toughness of the opening section.Requiem for Larissa is an intensely personal piece performed with respect and care by the Ukrainian National Chorus and Symphony Orchestra under conductor Vladimir Sirenko.

Mazarin managed to sign the Treaty of Paris which validates the future Peace of the Pyrenees, and therefore the marriage of Louis XIV with the Infanta of Spain in 1660. In the context of these celebrations, the French ambassador in Venice commissions a mass from Cavalli, the greatest composer of his time. He thus composed this sumptuous Missa, performed in January 1660 in the Basilica of San Giovanni e Paulo and brought together the best voices and most famous musicians around viols, violins, cornets and trumpets in a spatialisation in the Venetian manner. In this recording, Benjamin Chénier takes on this chef d'oeuvre which celebrates France and Louis XIV with brilliant soloists and a strategy of spatialisation in the Royal Chapel which recreates the splendid sound of 1660.

Pergolesi's Stabat mater and his C minor Salve Regina were coupled earlier on the Hogwood (L'Oiseau-Lyre) recording, highly praised by NA. The addition of another Salve Regina, this one attributed not quite conclusively to Scarlatti as a late work, provides the new record with a further attraction both on the piece's own merit (irrespective of authorship) and in its affinity with the Stabat mater. Another attraction for many will lie in the identity of the two singers and the conductor. Dutoit, to be sure, is not commonly associated with music of this kind, but the stylishness of his performances over a wide field may promote confidence that it will extend to this, and that the Montreal Sinfonietta will bring a touch that will not seem too heavy in an age which has grown accustomed to authentic instruments and reduced numbers. As for the singers, bath have the requisite clarity and flexibility, and Bartoli has made a notable success of arie antiche written within the period.

–Decca

The music in this collection, inspired by religious thought and liturgical text, has been selected in honor of Pope John Paul II's visit to Paris in August of 1997 to celebrate Mass as part of the Worldwide Days of Youth. Much of the music here is very familiar to even casual listeners to classical music. From J. S. Bach's "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring," to a rousing version of "Hallelujah" from Handel's 'Messiah,' this CD plays like a greatest hits of church music from the last 400 years.
There are also some less familiar offerings from composers more well-known for their secular music. Vivaldi is represented with two attractive movements from his 'Gloria in D Major,' and from Rossini (better-known for his operas) comes the lovely "Amen" from his 'Stabat Mater.' Representing the nineteenth and the twentieth centuries, the Franck, Fauré, and Messiaen selections are transcendental in their beauty. The stunningly rich-voiced mezzo-soprano Cecilia Bartoli is spotlighted in three selections, and tenor Andrea Bocelli is featured in Bizet's "Agnus Dei."

Nada Ficou No Lugar (2019), esse é o título do projeto comandado por Andrea Franco e DJ Zé Pedro que regata algumas das principais (ou mesmo obscuras) composições de Adriana Calcanhotto e entrega a um time seleto de novos representantes da música popular brasileira. Dividido em três partes, o trabalho que vem sendo revelado ao público desde o mês de dezembro do último ano acaba de ser entregue na íntegra, com todas as suas 18 interpretações para o trabalho da cantora e compositora gaúcha.

In the brilliant history of the Chamber Choir of the Moscow Conservatory a separate chapter is connected with the musical legacy of Alfred Schnittke (1934-1998). Both compositions are united by the subject of faith and contemplation of what Is spiritual and spiritless. Despite the fact that chronologically the Requiem (1975) Is an earlier work than the Cantata (1983), on the CD they are presented in reverse order: fol­lowing Alexander Solovyev's conception, the narrative of Faust’s tragic death, coming as retribution for his sinful earthly life, must be followed by a memorial prayer, the Requiem. The compact disc documented “live” performances: the Requiem was performed on September 17, 2013 at the Small Hall of the Conservatory, while the Cantata sounded out on September 29, 2014 at the Grand Hall of the Conservatory.

From the highest mountain of the Andes, the deep Amazon jungle and Latin America's loudest cities, comes the explosive sound of Falakumbe. Cumbia-reggae chicha-punk mixed in a tropical casserole of distorted guitars and güiro that melts the stage and the audience together into a one big pachanga.

"The Renaissance is well known for its cultural giants. Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, and above all Michelangelo epitomize a period when the human spirit seemed to grow and gain in confidence. This collection of complete works celebrates the musical geniuses who contributed to this astonishing period in European history." Peter Phillips

Je n'aime pas le classique, mais ça j'aime bien! (literally "I don't like classical music, but this I really like" in French) is a successful series of compilation albums of classical music interpreted by various artists. They were released on RCA / Sony BMG. The set was favourably reviewed by RTL's "classics" radio presenter Charlotte Latour. –Wikipedia

Liszt's position as a composer for the Church has always been controversial. The paradox that the most modern composer of the age, the supporter of the revolutionary ideals of 1789, 1830 and 1848, ended up writing music for an institution regarded as a bastion of everything conservative and reactionary, has led to a questioning of Liszt's motives. With the rapidly advancing secularization of culture, Liszt was seen as disillusioned, and his decision to take minor orders in 1865 was considered a startling about-turn for one so worldly. In fact, Liszt wrote sacred music with reform in mind. The dismal state of church music in the first half of the nineteenth century, when it was common to hear opera cabalettas sung to liturgical words, encouraged him to go back to plainsong and the music of Palestrina for inspiration. Composed in 1865, the year he took minor orders, the Missa Choralis embodies these twin elements. The influence of plainsong pervades the thematic material, albeit refocused through Liszt's boldly original and expressively chromatic harmonic language.

First and foremost, Domenico Scarlatti is regarded as the greatest composer of binary harpsichord sonatas of all time, and that is as it should be: he wrote more than 600 of them and many are constantly recorded and played. However, early in his Italian career, Scarlatti developed a proven track record as a composer of sacred music, some of it under the watchful eye of his father, Alessandro Scarlatti, believed by many at the time as the top composer of the age. The fact most readily observed in regard to Domenico's sacred music is that his Stabat mater, composed in 1717 or 1718, was the work within that genre replaced in Rome by Giovanni Pergolesi's Stabat mater around 1735. The Scarlatti work was conceived in a different style to different strictures; while it has become the most recorded of Scarlatti's sacred works, it definitely suffers when paired with the Pergolesi owing to its immediacy and familiarity. On Coro's Iste Confessor, the Sixteen led by Harry Christophers widely opt for Scarlatti's own, other sacred music as filler to the "Stabat mater with results fairer to the composer and quite favorable to listeners.

Unknown Italian sacred and instrumental music of the 18th century from Naples: The Abchordis Ensemble interprets the Lectio VIII Defunctorum (for soprano, two violins and basso continuo) by Gennaro Manna (1715-1779), and the symphony by Aniello Santangelo (18th century) in F (for two violins, viola and basso continuo) and the Stabat Mater (for four voices, with violins, violetta and basso continuo) by Giacomo Sellitto (1701-1763). An equally melodious and virtuoso music, sometimes attractively chromatically charged. Musical examples of the incredible cultural diversity in Naples in the 18th century. The Abchordis Ensemble was founded in 2011 by ten musicians of various nationalities, with the aim of rediscovering and bringing to light today unpublished or under-performed music. The vocal and instrumental ensemble dedicated themselves above all to church music in 17th and 18th century Italy.

It's not easy to pinpoint precisely what makes Christina Pluhar and L'Arpeggiata's performances of Baroque music, particularly Monteverdi, so extraordinary and distinctive, even in a time – the early 21st century – when (pardon the oxymoron) exceptionally fine recordings of this repertoire are the rule rather than the exception. One element may be the inventiveness of her realizations of the continuo part.