Stabat mater, for soprano, alto, strings & organ in F minor
Salve regina, for countertenor & strings in F minor (doubtful)
Sinfonia for cello & continuo in F major
Among the dozens or perhaps hundreds of available recordings of Pergolesi's Stabat Mater, a subgroup of recent ones has emphasized its very operatic style. Within this group, performers have gone in various directions, but a single one is represented here: sheer vocal beauty of a sort that just doesn't come along every day. The vocal line trumps the dramatic meaning of the text here, but the duets between soprano Véronique Gens and countertenor Gérard Lesne are so gorgeous that you just won't care. Highlights are hard to ...
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Among the dozens or perhaps hundreds of available recordings of Pergolesi's Stabat Mater, a subgroup of recent ones has emphasized its very operatic style. Within this group, performers have gone in various directions, but a single one is represented here: sheer vocal beauty of a sort that just doesn't come along every day. The vocal line trumps the dramatic meaning of the text here, but the duets between soprano Véronique Gens and countertenor Gérard Lesne are so gorgeous that you just won't care. Highlights are hard to select, but they are freely sprinkled as well through the Salve Regina in F minor for alto, strings, and continuo; hear the opening movement, with the passages in which Lesne gets to display his dark copper lower register. In the Stabat Mater itself, there are more fiery readings of the Fac ut ardeat cor meum section (track 8), but few more agonizingly delectable versions of the climactic Quando corpus morietur (track 12); Gens and Lesne begin the duet with an almost total lack of...
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