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Review
An opera composer to his bones, Rossini had, with characteristic eccentricity, decided to retire at the age of only 37. Perhaps the phenomenal achievement of having written over 30 operas in the space of just 19 years, many of which were – and still are – wildly popular, had left him feeling burnt out. True to his word, he never wrote another opera. But his irrepressible operatic spirit permeates the few pieces he did go on to compose, none more so than the magnificent Stabat Mater, completed in 1841. With its magical fusion of heartfelt solemnity and devotion with theatrical drama and joyous melodies, some even argue that this work represents the summation of Rossini's art; listening to this new recording it is hard to disagree. Pappano and company really understand its idiomatic style like no one else on disc.
There is a compelling commitment to this performance. The opening chorus, with its hushed cloak-and-dagger atmosphere punctuated by dramatic outbursts, showcases choral singing of a terrific intensity that pins you to your seat. After a sternly forbidding orchestral introduction, the sun comes out from behind the clouds for the first time in the tenor aria Cujus animam gementem. Lawrence Brownlee captures the nobility of the glorious and unmistakeably Italian melody. Soprano Anna Netrebko and mezzo Joyce DiDonato at times seem almost impossibly sweet-voiced, blending sublimely in the sumptuous duet Quis est homo, full of impassioned longing. The darkly rich, stentorian tones of bass Ildebrando d'Arcangelo are heard to marvellous effect in his aria Pro peccatis suae gentis, which also displays great subtlety. Stellar soloists are often poor team players, but here all four work supremely together: the radiant quartet Sancta mater is an absolute joy, aided by Pappano's buoyant (but never trivialising) accompaniment.
If you already love this wonderful work, you certainly won't want to be without Pappano's splendid new account; if you have yet to discover it, there is no better place to start.
--Graham Rogers
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CD Description
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.
Pappano's recent releases with the Roman orchestra includes the award-wining and critically-acclaimed Verdi Requiem, Respighi's ‘Roman Trilogy', the Tchaikovsky Symphonies 4-6 and Puccini's opera ‘Madama Butterfly' with Angela Gheorghiu and Jonas Kaufmann which won Gheorghiu the Female Artist of the Year honour at this year's Classical Brit Awards. Pappano himself won the Critics' Choice award for his recording of the Verdi Requiem.
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Customer Reviews
Indeed, the soloists are all splendid. Lawrence Brownlee makes the aria "Cujus amimam" sound effortless as he delivers it with golden tone. The darker colour of Netrebko's voice contrasts well with the brighter palate of DiDonato in their duet and they sing their respective arias with great beauty. Perhaps the highlight of the recording is the a capella quartet "Quando corpus morietur."
I have one minor quibble: the voices of the soloists are much more forward than those of the choir. They seem to come from different aural planes. Even in the choral movements, the choir seems remote and recessed. This, however, is not so significant as to impair one's enjoyment of this excellent set.
Highly recommended!
In case you think I'm being hypercritical, I would say that I am not by far the only commentator to express reservations - although those who dissent are likely to be drowned out and showered with abuse and negative votes for saying so. Maybe it's a case of only dead fish going with the tide, but swimming against is my MusicWeb reviewer colleague Bob Farr, who has also heard a lot of versions and remains underwhelmed. While acknowledging the "dramatic thrust" of Pappano's direction he has serious doubts about the sound balance, which places the soloists too far back, apparently seemingly behind the orchestra, and secondly he expresses disappointment with both Netrebko and DiDonato. I certainly immediately noticed the wobble and lack of firmness in a voice which, when even in its prime, was always too soft-grained for the spinto qualities the music demands and here sounds distinctly laboured. Some have attributed the recent deterioration in her voice, also noticeable in her Micaela in "Carmen", to her having returned to singing too soon after giving birth, when time is needed to recover from the physiological and hormonal changes that happy event occasions. Nor does Joyce DiDonato really thrill; she lacks the heft of lower register brought to the mezzo line by singers in competitive recordings such as Agnes Baltsa, Lucia Valentini Terrani and Yvonne Minton, and sounds faintly uninspired. In truth, both ladies are bland and lack spiritual conviction; I don't buy the throw-away line about this piece being "just a laugh" with no true religious content - you can hear the difference in the gravitas of the soloists in superior earlier versions conducted by Kertesz and Muti. This might explain why some earlier reviewers were not ultimately as wowed as they expected to be having read some fairly enthusiastic plugs.
The men are much better, though even Brownlee cannot provide the gleam of Pavarotti (or, for that matter, Bjorling in his wonderful recording of the "Cuius animam") and the sturdy and splendidly named Ildebrando D'Arcangelo is not necessarily preferable to Hans Sotin or Gwynne Howell.
So I'll stick with my two earlier versions, while still acknowledging Pappano's achievement - but I think he is let down by his ladies.
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