Les Talens Lyriques & Christophe Rousset - Pergolesi: Stabat Mater - The Telegraph

Few pieces have such a lavish recording history as Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater. There are 30 recordings from the past three decades alone, and some classic early ones which are still in the catalogue. Why should this setting of an anguished poem about the Mother of Christ weeping at the foot of the Cross have turned out to be such a popular favourite? Partly it’s because the piece has been associated for nearly two centuries with the romantic image of the hugely gifted but sickly Pergolesi, who was cut down at the cruelly young age of 26. He completed the Stabat Mater in his sickbed in a Neapolitan monastery, just a few weeks before his death. But it must also be said that the work is a masterpiece. It breathes a special atmosphere of intense, brooding sorrow, lightened in some movements by a graceful, almost operatic lyricism. And it’s a wonderful showpiece for two great singers. It’s scored for high female voice and a lower part which in the past was taken by a mezzo-soprano, but often nowadays by a counter-tenor – as in this recording. There are some truly starry pairings among the existing recordings: Mirella Freni and Teresa Berganza in 1972, June Anderson and Cecilia Bartoli in 1993, Anna Netrebko and Marianna Pizzolato in 2011.

One of the strongest of the existing versions is by the same orchestra and director (Les Talens Lyriques and Christophe Rousset) that appear on this new recording, which also contains sacred pieces by two other Neapolitan Baroque composers. The new recording is similar to the previous one in many ways. Rousset adopts refreshingly lively tempos for the more optimistic movements, and spins out the numerous dissonant decorative notes to luxuriant length, for maximum sorrowful effect.

The big strength of the new recording is French soprano Sandrine Piau. She catches the voluptuous sadness of the slow movements and the hectic intensity of the faster ones, within an overall tone of graceful, chaste beauty. And she’s equally wonderful in the more virtuoso, florid style of Nicola Porpora’s Salve Regina. Counter-tenor Christopher Lowrey is unimpeachable, singing with stylishness and perfect intonation, but doesn’t touch the heart in the same way. If you want a modern version with a good clean sound and period style, this is among the best.