Search - Giovanni Pergolesi, Giovanni Battista Pergolesi, Michael Halasz :: Pergolesi: Stabat Mater; Orfeo

Wonderful performance of great music

R. M Connors | Dedham, MA USA | 08/08/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Stabat Mater (literally, "sorrowful mother") is an anonymous medieval poem or hymn which served for centuries as a favorite motif for Catholic composers, especially of the Baroque era, though Dvorak composed perhaps the greatest one of all near the end of the last century. The poem is a meditation on the Blessed Mother as she sits, desolate, at the foot of the cross watching her son, Jesus, die. The poem, of course, is in Latin. Fortunately, the notes in this excellent album contain both the Latin and its English translation.



Although Pergolesi knew he was nearing a very early and tragic death at only 26 when he composed his Stabat Mater, he nevertheless wrote some very sunny music. Partly for this reason, it's probably not the greatest Stabat Mater ever written, but it sure is fantastically beautiful music, and this performance does it justice. I've heard a half dozen different versions of Pergolesi's piece over the years, and this is my favorite by a wide margin."

I wholeheartedly endorse the previous reviews!!!

Bruce Bogin | rural France | 12/17/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Pergolesi's Stabat Mater is my all time favorite piece of music. I can't remember where I heard it, but it had an immediate effect on me which has not lessened as many times as I've heard it. I have a cassette of it in my car which I play over and over. You might say that I am addicted to it. I now have about six different performances of it, but one of my idiosyncrasies is that I will only buy this work if it is sung by female singers. I find something to like in each performance. But this one is special. Somehow I stumbled across it as I was browsing on Amazon, and I was persuaded by the two previous reviewers and. of course, the price. I can only tell you that it is superb. Both singers are excellent, although I do tend to have a special fondness for sopranos. What I especially like about this performance is the leadership of the conductor. I find he has just the right tempo and his ensemble plays at just the rught volume to the singers. Altogether an extremely worthwhile purchase. Whether this is your first purchase of Pergolesi's Stabat Mater, or whether like me you have several copies, this performance is a must for the lover of Baroque."