Antonio Vivaldi - Stabat Mater (Andreas Scholl & David Daniels)

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Antonio Vivaldi - Stabat Mater (Andreas Scholl & David Daniels)

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Stabat Mater is a 13th-century Roman Catholic hymn to Mary. It has been variously attributed to the Franciscan Jacopone da Todi and to Innocent III. There are two Stabat Mater hymns, one the Stabat Mater Dolorosa is about the Sorrows of Mary, the other, Stabat Mater Speciosa joyfully refers to the Nativity of Jesus. The title of the sorrowful hymn is an incipit of the first line, Stabat mater dolorosa ("The sorrowful mother stood"). The joyful hymn refers to "The beautiful mother stood". The Dolorosa hymn, one of the most powerful and immediate of extant medieval poems, meditates on the suffering of Mary, Jesus Christ's mother, during his crucifixion. It is sung at the liturgy on the memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows. The Dolorosa has been set to music by many composers, with the most famous settings being those by Palestrina, Pergolesi, Haydn, Rossini, and Dvořák.
The Dolorosa was well known by the end of the fourteenth century and Georgius Stella wrote of its use in 1388, while other historians note its use later in the same century. In Provence, about 1399, it was used during the nine days processions.
As a liturgical sequence, the Dolorosa was suppressed, along with hundreds of other sequences, by the Council of Trent, but restored to the missal by Pope Benedict XIII in 1727 for the Feast of the Seven Dolours of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
The Speciosa appeared in a 1495 edition of the Italian poems of Jacopone da Todi which contained both Stabats; but the Speciosa was almost forgotten until it was re-transcribed in 1852 in the "Poètes Franciscains en Italie au Treizième siècle" in Paris. The Speciosa has since been viewed as one of the tenderest Marian hymns and one of the seven greatest Latin hymns. It has become part of standard oratorios, and given rise to various Christmas carols.

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Antonio Vivaldi - Stabat Mater (Andreas Scholl & David Daniels)

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The critics are right: this recording is remarkable. This CD has won a Gramophone award, 4f Telerama, 10 Repertoire, and a Diapason d'Or. It has also made the list of the 50 Best Baroque Recordings (BBC Music). Listen: I'm not even a particular fan of Andreas Scholl, but this is one of my most favorite recordings (in a collection that numbers almost 1,000 CD's). Scholl is uniquely suited to the repertory such as this. His angelic voice may not always rise to the occasion in opera (although his performance in Solomon certainly challenges this assumption), but that same angelic voice is always at home in sacred music - blending calm reverence with a hint of emotion, in a manner that is both beautiful and heart-breaking. Listen to his Stabat Mater to know what I mean. Scholl's voice is also quite at home in the secular cantata Cessate Omai Cessate, a cry of unrequited love, albeit more elegaic than passionate. At the surface, this recording, featuring some of the world's most beautiful melodies, is an easy listening (is there a melody more ravishing than Larghetto from Cessate?). But the listening is also revelatory and rewarding because it leads to new layers of meaning and expression on each new listen.

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Antonio Vivaldi - Stabat Mater (Andreas Scholl & David Daniels)

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Anyone familiar with Vivaldi only through his innumerable concertos (which are, unjustly, often accused of sounding alike) will be surprised by this recording. Vivaldi, in fact, composed a lot of vocal music, both sacred and secular, and wrote for voices no less skillfully than for instruments. The three works presented here, for alto, solo strings, and organ, are utterly beautiful and completely different in character, mood, and feeling.
The "Stabat Mater" is most substantial. Alternating recitatives and arias, often framed by instrumental ritornellos, it is heartbreakingly mournful, but ends peacefully before closing with a whole aria on "Amen." The other two works are real bravura pieces for the singer. They cover an enormous range and are full of florid coloratura passages and wide leaps. "Nisi Dominus" is very dramatic, with mysterious chromatic lines and big climaxes; "Longe mala" goes from defiant vehemence through fervent entreaty to serene resignation.
The performances are fabulous. David Daniels's voice has a pure, unearthly beauty and is perfectly even in quality across a huge range. Every note is meticulously placed and in tune, his breath control is incredible, his stylistic and emotional identification with the music complete. The musicians of Europa Galante support him splendidly, not as an accompanying group, but as true partners, playing with a lovely sound, imaginative ornamentation, and great expressiveness. The record's only flaw is that Daniels's breathing is clearly audible; he must have stood too close to the microphone. –Edith Eisler