CD

Rossini: Stabat Mater

Warner Classics/Erato | Track Listing

“What ultimately defines the performance is its polish and stylishness, giving the Stabat Mater a stature it has seldom, if ever, achieved on record.” ~ Financial Times

“This is one of the great choral recordings” ~ Gramophone

Award-winning conductor Antonio Pappano and his acclaimed Roman orchestra the Accademia di Santa Cecilia release Rossini’s Stabat Mater. The recording includes star soloists Anna Netrebko, Joyce DiDonato, Lawrence Brownlee and Ildebrando d’Arcangelo.

Although Rossini focused heavily on opera, he was still able to find some time to undertake commissions of a non-operatic nature. Supreme among these was to be the Stabat Mater. “I would say that the Stabat Mater – the picture of the Virgin Mary standing below the crucifix watching her son die and this beautiful set of prayers or scene setting is sublimely put to music by Rossini.” says Maestro Pappano.

Antonio Pappano’s winning streak continues with Rossini’s Stabat Mater, a companion piece to last year’s Verdi Messa Da Requiem in its almost operatic treatment of devotional material.

It’s exquisitely realised, in settings which range from subtle, barely perceptible hints of strings to rousing orchestral crescendos. The blend of Anna Netrebko’s soprano and Joyce DiDonato’s mezzo-soprano is particularly effective, both in duet form on “Quis est homo”, and underpinned by Lawrence Brownlee’s tenor on the opening “Stabat mater dolorosa”, while Ildebrando D’Arcangelo brings a magisterial poise to his solo on ‘Pro peccatis suae gentis’.”

~ Andy Gill, The Independent, November 2010

“In this sensual-sounding sacred work, a departure from Rossini’s comic operas, the vocal dream team is completed by Russian soprano Anna Netrebko, American mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato, the Italian bass Ildebrando D’Arcangelo and the orchestra and chorus of Rome’s Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, conducted by Antonio Pappano.

DiDonato’s silken voice soars in a duet with Netrebko’s rich, silvery soprano, while D’Arcangelo’s burnished, powerhouse bass reaches into the netherworld of a tormented soul.

The soloists are all at their vocal peak, offering a searing, hour-long stream of music plugged into an emotional power socket, eliciting hope that ends with an ominous ‘Amen’.”

~ Verena Dobnik, The Associated Press, December 2010

Album info

Release date: December 7, 2010
Number of Discs: 1
Format: Studio
Label: Warner Classics
ASIN: B0041EV5CI